Buffy:Nemeses, er Nemesis
by regertz
Summary: S8 tale based on an alternate S7...    -Buffy faces her greatest enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...
1. Chapter 1

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..."

Summary: Season Eight tale...Based on an AU S7...Buffy faces her greatest enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

[Suggested main theme..."The Look of Love..."(Dusty Springfield version...)]

(Happy to refer you to a source if you can't track it down...)

You may find the web site fun to look at with this one...Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page...

Prologue...

Previously, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

A series of quick season seven flashbacks appears...

Running swiftly to a scene of Principal Wood burying Jonathan...Starting to toss dirt on his prone form in the shallow grave as the camera runs over our beloved nerd's body up to his...Suddenly fluttering?...Eyelids...

Four hours later...

"Oh...No... "Jonathan looks around...Dark...Very dark...

And rather...Yeah, that's dirt...Though rather loosely packed...

He sits up...Fortunately possessed Wood hadn't been much shakes as a gravedigger...

Am I a vampire?...he calls...

Hmmn...Wonder why that's the first thing to occur?...

Only other problem, besides extreme weariness...Who am I?...

Six months and a hefty medical bill later...

Jonathan with the gang, explaining his miraculous escape...Again...From death...While glaring at a sheepishly waving... Hi, Jon...Andrew...Sheepishly...

Fortunately that last bit of lost memory not yet recovered...

"Vasoconstrictive reaction..." Willow nods...

Yeah...I remember how you always used to faint at the annual blood drive...

Yeah...Jonathan sighs...Only this time my heart even stopped for a few secs...I think I was dead...

"You were..." Willow nods... Yeah...Andrew chimes in, brightly...The First even impersonated you...

Really?...Jonathan beams...

Giles frowning...

Not merely because Mr. Levinson, pater, has filed a suit against the Council as well as Sunnydale High for recovery of son Jonathan's medical expenses...Priceless as his son's miraculous return and slow recovery of memory is, he doesn't happen to have a million on hand and Jonathan's woes preceded health care reform...Buffy's already been in mourning too long...No need to have her finding another utterly dead type back from the grave...And still human, no less...

"So fill me in?...I miss much over the year...?"

Geesh...Andrew thinks...Surely my training enhanced manliness suggests...

"How's Buffy doing with that new vamp boyfriend?...

Well...

But, as Giles feared...The review of old memories is too much...

Though he'd hoped Willow would've been made of sterner stuff...After all, she'd promised to say nothing after Andrew had, on his return from retrieving poor Dana in LA, eagerly revealed the secret of Spike's restoration to the land of the Unliving...

Though perhaps it had been a mistake to mention to her the new Council's prediction of Angel and co's chances against the Partners precluding any attempt to offer assist...Even if the plot to destroy the Black Thorn had been as much his idea as Angel's...

Sacrifices had to be...

And Buffy could've at least waited...Let him finish the line after Willow's slip of the tongue before she'd dragged Andrew, Willow, and all those memory-bearing Slayers ready and willing to stand with her in saving William and Angel to LA...

On the other hand, she'd not killed him and taken bloody vengeance on the Council...One must count blessings...

LA battle scene...

Buffy, dragging a somewhat perturbed Will...Hey, Champion here...No Slayer nanny required...Hurrying to escape before the panicked forces of the Partners trampled them in their flight to the escape portal as the Slayer Corps bore down upon the routed enemy army...

The exit portal now disintergrating ...The gang and Slayers clustered...Surviving sentient demons surrendering in droves...

"We are One, Buffy!...You are part of me!..." Morphy Buffy/The First, taking Buffy form visible to all, cries...

Whoa...Willow, Xander...

The Bitch is back...Unless...Quick glance...Nope, ours' still with us...

Though right now, Xander notes...Ours is kinda a lot scarier...

"Mr. Giles thinks it's probably a psychic link between them..." Andrew notes to a startled Jonathan... "By the way if you say that to the Slayer, I've strict orders from the Chairman to kill us both..."

Mr. G, always thinking...He proudly notes...

"Slayer!..." the First, ranting mode as the latest of her armies dissolves...Literally as they jump for the portal... "You want this to happen...You want the end...At last..."

"It's all hopeless, you know that...All you've ever done is kill...Never help...Look at our William...You'll have to kill him too, in the end...Love is denied you as much as Angel...Only Death...!"

Hey...Angel frowning...My existence's been expanding in a lot of directions recently...

"Admit it to yourself...! Death is the only Gift you have...Like me!...We are One!...You are my extension in the physical world!...I am your darkest side!..."

"Bullshit...!" Buffy screams at Morphy...

Like I said...Xander eyes Willow...Scarier...

"Love is the Gift...Not Death..."

"I save people...I don't destroy them...I reject all you say, you miserable, empty nothing...!"

Oh, right...Go for the disability...Morphy glares...And she calls herself the "good one"...

"And I will be the Slayer...I want to go on being the Slayer...Helping the tormented...With all the love I can gather around me..." she takes the battered William's hand...

"You're no part of me!..."

"And I have a girlfriend..." Angel proudly chimes in...

Uh...Not meaning anything by that, Buffy...Just countering the attempt to induce despair best way I know...

"No prob..." wave of hand... "I like Nina...We should the foursome thing sometime..."

Xander eyeing Willow...She does mean as in "dinner date foursome"?...Not...

.

GRRR...Furious, and not gonna be ignored and cheated of the grand exit, Morphy throws out a wave of energy, dragging William towards the buckling portal...

"He's mine!...My own..." she glares...

Buffy fights to pull him back...Being dragged herself, William screaming for her to let him go...

Dawn...Joyce's image hisses to her...

You have to stop her...She's going to let herself be pulled in with him...

"Kill him, Dawn!...Before he takes her away from you!..." the image rages at William...

Dawn glares at Joyce...Not you again...

"My mom would never tell me to kill anyone..." she replies grimly...And helps Buffy and the

others pull William back...The Joyce image vanishes in rage...

Morphy, desperately drawing the energy of the disintegrating portal, corporealizes in a last gamble, glaring furiously at the others...

"I'll show you what your Buffy is capable of!..."

Andrew whips up the freeze ray at his side and blasts her...Good thing we portablized this thing...Knew it might come in handy, he notes to Jonathan...

The frozen, corporealized Morphy-Buffy falls into the open Hell portal as a last few demons jump through...Screaming as she thaws just at the end...

"You can't ever destroy me, Slayer!...It never ends...I'll always be within you!...All of you!..."

"Soon you'll wish you'd let me kill you!...You'll see how much of me is in you!...What a monster you can be!...All of you will see!..." the First cries as the Hell portal seals above her...

"Well..." Angel stares about...The others looking as well...

"Really thought we were gonna lose this place for good this time..." he notes..."Is Charlie alive still?..." Looks about... "I need him to start making some calls if we're gonna salvage anything outta this...Fred, er Illyria?..." he turns to the blue demon staggering his way, a wounded Charlie Gunn in her grip... Sighs..."Hey, Charlie, we need to have a meeting soon as you're up for it...Illyria, can you find Harmony?...If Willow can curse her soul back to get her on our team, I really need her list of phone numbers and addresses..."

"You're lucky I didn't let her take you for a week or two..." Buffy frowns at William... "What's the idea of not droppin' me a line...'Buffy, just got back from the beyond and wondered if what you said back at the cavern'... 'Buffy, your maniac Slayer cut my hands off and I could use some nurin'... 'Hey, Angel and I had to drop by Rome to save LA from a demon war and thought we'd butt in on your lovelife'...You gotta anything to say for yourself?..."

"I love you..."

"Shut up, you asshole!..." she glares...Dragging him off...

"Buffy?...The ambulances are over...Hmmn..." Willow blinks as Buffy gives a C'mon? stare...

Oh...

"Guess they've lots to catch up on..." she notes to Xander who sighs...

"Willow? Can I borrow you a sec?..." Angel calls...Shrieking Harmony now in Illyria's grip beside him...

"Of course..." Jonathan notes to Andrew, engaging in texting victory message to his Chairman... "I could be just about to die back in the hole and this could all be my Owl Creek Bridge moment..."

"God, I'd hope you could do better for yourself in your own fantasy..." Andrew shakes head...Continuing victory report...

England...The newly restored Antiquarian Hall of the Royal Council of Antiquarians and Library Scientists...

"Lord..." Giles sighs, giving up after fourth attempt...Raising cell phone... "Can anyone translate this gibberish for me?..."

(Like I said, alternate universe...But not so alternate as...)

Part I...

In yet another alternate existence...On another Alternate Earth...

[Play theme: Heart of Glass]

A smoke-filled, noisy watering hole...In a blighted world barely beginning to recover from constant, devastating demon raids...Ready to eagerly accept anything...And any group...Offering salvation...

A salvation which had been granted...At a price...

"Once had love and it was a gas...Soon turned out...Had a heart of glass..." The Blondie song warbled over the sounds of the crowded room...Sung by a small young dark-haired woman on the tiny postage stamp of a stage in back as she danced in rather scanty costume...Dozens of patrons clutching drinks paying scant attention to her but for the few close males eyeing her short, but attractive form with commendable attention...A form that to a few non-human patrons scattered round seemed disturbingly familiar...

In the back of the bar...The owner, a short, nervous though rather prosperous-looking, little man, his eyes dashing over the crowd like a ferrit's...Looking for any potential...Oh, Christ...No...

Now in the center of the room, eye'd briefly by a number of females...Not all human...A brown-haired, bespectacled, bemused-looking young man...In a long black coat rather at odds with his shy, slightly embarrassed expression...Rather out of sorts in this crowd and place, obviously...Searched the room until he saw...

The singer paused, staring back at him...Then at Willie, her boss...A look of terror flashing on her face for just a moment...Then back to him...

William...she breathed across the room to him...

Her eyes pleaded...

He stared back at her...As she nervously returned to her song and her bump-and-grind dance...

"Seemed like the real thing...Only to find..." she continued...

"William Walthrop...Bloody Awful Will...Our own human-souled vampire vampire Slayer..."

the bar owner called cheerily, as he hastened over...One hand extended for a friendly shake, the other waving to call a waitress and drinks...

"Willie..." William nodded at the little man...Clearly aware that he'd spotted his target...Desperate to keep potential trouble to a minimum...

Though having a Nemesis series...the One of the series...Working in his bar was hardly a way to avoid potential trouble...

The singer had returned to her performance, picking up the pace perhaps...Eyeing him with the same pleading look from time to time as he accepted Willie the Snitch's hospitality...

Willie waved him to a booth...One allowing a good view of the stage he noted with a smile...

"Quite a girl we just got in...You hear about her?" he smiled...

A knock-off of course...But one of the best...

C'mon, William...he leaned in with a confidential air...

"Wouldn't you rather see one Hunter out free in the world?...Than slaving for the Council?...She's an altered early test model, can still think a little for herself..."

"I don't keep her with me..." he tried...

"She's a Nemesis series, Willie..." William sighed at him as he cradled his ale...

The One...he added...

Willie stared at him...No point in trying to cover...

"She's all that's left of your Buffy, William..."

The one who really is Buffy...

"It's a crime what the Mears Corporation and that Council did to her...To the others..." Willie shook his head...

They couldn't let Buffy rest in peace...

"They use her to keep Humanity safe..." William noted...

My Buffy would've wanted that...

"Buffy Summers would want a hundred of her brain-dead clones wandering around, doing whatever the Watchers' Council tells em to do...?" Willie glared...

And would you like to hear what some of those oh-so-high-and-mightily respectables have their Buffies do?...

"No..." William shook his head...

I would not...And I already have heard...

"They're slaves, Spike...Except for the One...And she's..."

William rose suddenly...

"Never call me that!...I am not Spike...He is in Hell!...Again...Forever..."

"That's for sure..." Willie sneered up at him...

Spike would've killed Mears and the whole Council for what they did to her...

"William?..." a voice tensely whispered next to them...Both men jumping slightly...

The singer had finished and come over...With such haste and so quietly neither had had a hint of her approach...

"It's ok Willie...I can deal..." she glanced at her boss hastily...

Jesus, girl...I been trying to buy you run time...What are you trying to do?...Willie stared at her...As she nervously, eagerly stared at Walthrop...

"I've missed you, William..." she shyly told him...Sitting next to Willie on his side of the booth...

Willie rolling his eyes...

"Look...William..." he began, in a tense whisper...

"I...can...handle this..." she interrupted him in an annoyed tone, putting a hand on his shoulder...And snapping his neck with the subtlest of quick moves...Her hand now keeping his dead body propped up..

Jesus...William stared...

"I told him I could deal..." she noted in a harsh whisper, a little sullenly...

"Buffy..." William stared at her as her free hand moved swiftly over dead Willie, going through his pockets...While the other held him in place...

Not that anyone here was likely to notice...Or care...

"He hid you...Saved your life...At no small risk..."

He loved you...

"Yeah, so...?" she shrugged...

"He wanted an invite into me, so he protected me...Why should I let it bother me?..."

After all, she smiled at him...All the more bizarre for being a thoroughly sincere little Buffy smile, he knew...

"There's only one guy for me...William..."

Unless you turn on me like my friends did...she glared at him...

"They didn't turn on you...They don't even know you, darling..." he sighed...

"They want me dead..."

"They know what the Mears Corporation created in you..."

"Why only me?..." she pouted "There's dozens of my sisters around now..."

"They're mindless servants of the Council...You can think for yourself...And Warren took a lot of pleasure in making sure the best of his clones...The Nemesis series...Got Buffy's..."

he paused...

"Worst side...?" she eyed him...Triumphantly pulling out a stuffed wallet...And a slip of paper...Ah, the mother lode...

"Cash...And the address..." she waved the paper...

"I'll say a prayer for him...My sweet boss, Willie..." she got up hastily...Pushing Willie to a relatively stable position...

Lets go...she eyed Walthrop..."Willow and the others will be coming...Sooner or later they'll trace you even if they can't track me..."

And we can't have them finding their Hellmouth Watcher so initim...she struggled...

Intimate with you?...William offered helpfully...

Yeah...Thank you...she nodded...A rather surprising gently grateful smile...

"Besides...I know you don't want me to meet up with my Dawny again..." she beamed beatifically...Touching his coat... "Or the others..." she eyed him with an innocently soulful Buffy stare...

"And we have a man to see...Honey..." she started off for the entrance...

Would she say a prayer for him one day?...William wondered...Following her into the smoke-filled room...

None of the patrons...Of any species...Paying attention as Willie's corpse fell over in the booth...

They stood by a rear door exit in the cool evening...She shivered slightly and he took his coat off and handed it to her without a word as he dialed on his cell phone...Time he'd checked in...She gave him another grateful smile that, for a moment, nearly brought him to tears as he waited...

Bastard Mears...Bastard...he thought harshly...Closing his eyes...

And me...

"Hello...Will?..." a young voice on the other end...He struggled a moment to get the huskiness out of his voice...And the shame...

He was still new to the betrayal of friends...Even family all things considered...At least in Dawn's case...

Buffy eyed him carefully...

"Dawn..." he spoke into the phone...

"You've been a while...How's it going...?"

"I may have a lead on Mears..." he noted...True enough at least, he thought...

"Are you alone?...Xander said you didn't take any of the Hunters with you?..."

"Mears'll never let me get close to him with Hunters at my side..." he replied...

Buffy watched tensely...Dawn...

Her little sister...And someone she had a serious desire to meet...Alone...For just a few minutes...

To discuss a few minor points between them...Mom's death, her own, and what she tended to view as her little sister's betrayal since her...Resurrection...

But, other issues right now...Primarily survival...

"Can't I call Willow...Have her help you?...Or Xander, at least?..."

"Mears is sure to be protected at his latest hideout, dear heart...He'd sense Willow's magic...And run again...But as for Xander..." he paused...

Xander?...Buffy stared...A faint smile starting, then lost...He was after her too...Even sweet Xander...My Big Brother...

But natural enough, after Anya and all...

Though it wasn't fair of him to be angry about that...She'd only been defending herself...She hadn't wanted to...

"Maybe later...Let me get the lay of the land, then I'll call back...I'm sure it's safe...He's got to be

keeping a low profile to have hidden from us and the Council so long and still keep in touch with the Corporation..."

"Take care, Will..." Dawn's anxious voice...

"Of course, Nibs..."

"Don't...Let her fool you, Will...She's not Buffy, not really...You know that..."

"And...It's not your fault...Buffy...Would understand...Does understand..."

I do...she finished...

He paused...Buffy hesitant...The pleading look back on her face...And a careful watchfulness...

"I'll be fine, girl...Call you asap...Take care and give my best to Rupert when he calls..." he

hung up...Not looking at his companion for a minute...

"Xander?..." Nemesis Buffy frowned at him...

"You're gonna have him come to Mears' place...?" her eyes narrowed slightly...

"I didn't tell her where...I had to agree to some support...Even Dawn would get suspicious and that would get the others after us, Willow in particular..."

Ok...she nodded, relaxing a bit...Guess you're right...

"At that the others will come...Soon enough if I don't get back..." he noted...He stepped out to the

street to hail a cab...

She froze a bit...Having followed him out to the street...

"You're going back...? After...?" she looked at him...The cab pulling over...

"Only if things aren't settled tonight, pet...If we need more time, I'll have to go back...To keep the

others from guessing..."

"You won't leave me...William...?" half-question, half-demand he realized...

And very likely his existence hanging in the balance...he also suspected...

"You won't leave me..." she repeated, a confident assertion...Sealed with a gentle kiss...

"You know I can't Buffy..." he replied...Opening the cab door for her...

"Say...?" she grinned, stepping in...My English gentleman, she smiled at the cabbie, indicating William...

"You didn't say how you liked my show?...Or my costume...?" she now pulled her dark wig off to reveal Buffy in all her blondness...

The wig was a nice touch...he smiled...

"That bad...?" she pouted...

"7717 Orchard Drive, Crestwood..." he told the cabbie...

Bad neighborhood...And kinda far...The cabbie frowned back...

"You won't have to wait...And we'll make it worth your while..." William handed over $100...

"Please...?" she smiled at the cabbie... "We're going to tell my dad about us tonight..." she hugged

Will a moment...

"William will pay more...And I'll give you a kiss..." she grinned...

For being such a sweet guy...

The cabbie grinned back and nodded, unknowingly saving his life...Ok...They sped off...

Willie said I was great...A natural...she noted to William in a slightly hurt tone...

"You sure this is the place...?" William looked at the gloomy old house...Huge but sadly rundown...

At least on the outside...

She nodded...But looked uncertain herself...

Not exactly the sort of lair one of Earth's great corporate leaders would be expected to take...

Yet rather fitting for one in hiding from the world's secret elite of protectors...Especially one like

the nerdish, rather morbid Dr. Warren Mears...

And the name he'd given as owner...JL Sebastian...

Please...No wonder a reader of men like Willie had found him so quickly...Just search all real estate holdings using every famous sci-fi name reference...And given his replicant Buffies...The choice of sci-fi reference was easily narrowed to one film...

At least he'd had enough sense not to use "Tyrell"...

"Careful, William..." she kissed him quickly...He stood in front of the door, waiting to press the bell...

Nemesis Buffy moved to wait in bushes near the door...They'd agreed Mears might be a tad less reluctant to see the representative of the Watchers' Council than his own dear "daughter"...

Yes...?

Both recognized the young maid who appeared at the door...Natural enough, Mears had had a dozen copies of the Katrina who'd left him years ago working as devoted secretaries and middle-management types throughout the Mears Corporation...Sentimental type that he was...

This one however seemed one of the less bright models...Though strong enough, William carefully noted...He flashed an id...

"William Walthrop...Of the Royal Council of Librarians and Library Scientists...I'm here to see Mr. Sebastian...On urgent business..."

"Mr. Sebastian is not at home...And sees no one..." she started to close the door...He held it open with one hand...

Concealing as best he could the rather heavy strain...She was a strong one, for a mere enhanced normal human...

But he tried to seem unbothered...

After all, his own true was watching...At least...All that was left of her...

"I said it was Council business, Miss...And urgent..." he smiled at her...As she struggled to close the door...And reached for something...A button, he saw through the crack between the half-open front door and frame...

Alarm, no doubt...She managed to press it...

"Mr...Sebastian...Is...Not...At...Home..." the Katrina clone still struggled grimly to close the door...He shoved it open in a burst...The maid fell back...

"He'll want to see me...In fact, this involves his own safety..." William kindly told her...As she tensed and took a fighting crouch...A door opened down the hall...

"Who are...? William?..." A dark brown-haired Buffy stared at him from the open door...

An unregistered Hunter, he realized immediately...

Not surprising Mears would have found some way to elude the Council's surveillance and keep one or two for his own protection...

Just lucky he hadn't...Hopefully...Managed to do the same with the Nemesis series...

Though even for the power-mad Mears, one Nemesis should have been enough...At least after she'd so effectively proven his success in restoring so much of Buffy's independent mind and memory, nearly leveling his corporate lab in the process...

"William?..." the Hunter eyed him...The Katrina clone remaining in defensive posture...

"Yes, Buffy...It's me..." he nodded...

"I'm here to see Mr. Sebastian...For the Watchers Council..."

"Mr. Sebastian is not available...Why did you force your way in, William?" the Hunter had assumed a defensive posture...

"I must see him, Buffy...This is a Council directive..." he eyed her carefully...

She remained in defensive mode...Hmmn...Best to feign surprise at her lack of cooperation...

"Don't you follow Council directives, Buffy...?"

Certainly...William...

She hesitated...Mears had clearly given her orders to disguise her renegade status...

She must be one of the prototypes...Before the Council took over as silent partner in his company...Surely Mears would've enhanced her well beyond a standard Hunter's mental capacity if he'd taken the risk of altering a recent Hunter's neurogenetic profile with the Council observers on his back night and day ...

He'd barely gotten away with the creation of Nemesis at that...No, he wouldn't have risked it for a mere Hunter...

Nemesis...she must be getting antsy with a Hunter so near...The rage building...He could almost feel it...

Perhaps the most truly Buffy thing about her...The furious rage and sense of violation and betrayal she felt in the presence of her "sisters"...

Still, she was a practical lass and survival-oriented...He had to trust she'd stick to the script and hold herself in check a bit longer...

The Hunter had thought the matter over...Or at least as much as she could still "think"...

"I will pass on your message to Mr. Sebastian...If he wishes to speak to you and the Council...He will contact you..."

She gave him a bright-eyed Buffy smile...But remained waiting...

He eyed her a bit more sternly...

"That's how you answer a Council directive, Buffy?...As your Watcher, I am ordering you to take me to Mr. Sebastian..."

She stared...Evaluating the possible combat scenarios, he guessed...

And...As your William...I'm hoping you'll comply...he finished, more kindly...

"It's all right, Buffy..." a voice called from down the hall...A tall, rather handsome middle-aged Dr. Warren Mears now emerged from the far end door...And strode down to them...

The Hunter relaxed a hair...But maintained position...Watching William carefully...As did also the Katrina maid, now standing in defensive mode as well...

"Mr. Walthrop..." Warren grinned...

"Mears...Or should I say, Mr. Sebastian...?" William took him in coolly...

Same ole Warren...With yet a few more improvements...

"You've been experimenting with enhancing yourself again, haven't you Mears...? You know the Council will be displeased..."

But not Nemesis, he thought...If you have managed to improve yourself...Mentally...Her prayers...And mine...Might still be answered...

"Improving oneself's is what life's all about, Spike..." Warren waved him to an open doorway... A comfortable, even luxurious living room beyond...The clones followed...

"The name is Walthrop, Mears..." William paused in the doorway...Fixing Mears with a hard look...

"Sorry...No offense, intended...William...Have a seat..." Mears indicated a loveseat across from the sofa where he sat with the Hunter by his side...The Katrina clone moving to stand beside the sofa...

So...he grinned...

"You and the Council...Or was it ole Willow, perhaps?...Finally tracked me down..."

He cocked his head at the Hunter now shyly smiling at William as she sat beside Warren...Doubtless ready to die for the boss at a moment's notice, William thought...

"You've guessed she's outside the loop of your little harem, I'm sure..." Mears grinned...

"A prototype...? From the first attempts...?" William looked at her...

Bingo...Give the Unman a kiss, Buffy...he smiled at the Hunter...

She rose, smiling...

William...

He put a hand to ward her off instinctively...But got hold of himself and explained kindly to her that he'd like to wait on the kiss, thanks...

Mears watched, beaming...She turned to him...A rather crestfallen look...

"Later is fine, Buffy...Sit down..." he told her...

"The Council won't be pleased to hear you've kept this one...And, frankly...If you don't hand her over to us...I'll be very happy to see her destroyed..." William grimly told Mears...

"Spike..." Mears grinned... "You'll hurt her feelings..."

Bad enough turning down a kiss from your girl...

"Enough, Mears..." William raised a hand...

The two clones eyed him carefully...Ready to spring...He paused and carefully lowered his hands...

My girls are overly cautious...Warren noted...

"Even with an ole buddy like you...Sp...William...But...That's love..."

"Well...What can I do for you...Now that you've found me?"

William smiled...

"Before I go any further...I want to speak to the real Warren...Not a clone like you..."

Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis... Part II...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creatorsof the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universes Warren Mears...

Part II...

New Sunnydale, CA...Just west of the great Crater...Normal (more or less, though alternate) Buffyverse...

The patrolling Buffy glared down on a fallen enemy...Struggling to maintain her normal intimidation level, despite exhaustion and injury...

Hafta maintain the full Slayer profile, she knew...Unless she wanted the whole underworld population to know the Slayer was a bit off her stride...

"Mercy on me, Slayer!...I've killed no..." the vamp looked up at her, feeling where she'd hit him.

Say...?

"You hit like a girl, Slayer." he grinned at Buffy. She glared back, raising her stake...

He hopped at her and kicked her back.

Ohhhh...she moaned, going down...But managed a spring back and hearty kick which threw him back...Slightly...

He chuckled, shaking himself a little...The mighty Slayer?...Ha!...

"What the hell happened to you, Slayer? You sick or something?"

A cold...Buffy informed his, solemnly.

"If you like we could do this another night...So as not to besmirch your reputation. I'm sure

you wouldn't want other vamps to think you caught me on a bad night.

"Slayer..." the vamp frowned, brushing his hair back and shaking some dirt off his clothes...

"I may have just crawled out of my grave...But I wasn't born yest..." he dusted...William appearing out of the dust cloud with a stern frown...

"Summers..." he sighed...

"Hey, Will..." she beamed...

They strode the graveyard, William in intense lecture mode...

She wasn't supposed to be out alone...She knew better...Why hadn't she called him in to help ahead of their usual meeting time...?

"You're not up to snuff, Buffy...And won't be for some time yet, if Giles is right...The First pulled a lot out of you at LA and you have to give it time...And there's no reason for you to be out alone...For once, you've got plenty of help..."

"Just like you to defeat the First, then let yourself get killed fighting some nobody when you're off your feed...he groused...

Inconsiderate of her...When the world needed her more than ever...The Council reforming, the SITs lacking trainers...Giles utterly swamped trying to put things back together...

Poor Dawn needing her...Though when next he saw the little Miss, he'd give her what for...Verbally...For letting Sis run off in weakened condition alone like an idiot and never calling him...

And of course her William...But, naturally she'd never worry her head or heart about him...The one who needed her most...

"I love you too..." she grinned...

He blinked...

Not that it hadn't been out there, unspoken, for weeks...Months...

Years, he was sure...And perhaps even...Well, at least at times it seemed as if he'd always loved her...And she'd...

But...

What?...She frowned at him...

"Typical...I reaffirm my end on the commitment...And the guy just goes merrily on his way, world-saving Slayer loves me, no big deal..."

"Stop!..." he shouted at her...

"Damn you!...This wasn't how I wanted it to go..." he glared...

No...? she eyed him...

No...he wagged his head at her...

"I had the whole campaign mapped out...A nice, gradual build up, at least for the sake of Dawn and the others...A few pleasant dinners out...A few nice evenings at home with the family...Some tender moments on Patrol...Then, when time served...You know, a good ole fashioned souled Victorian's..."

"You really were a poet in 1880, weren't you?...And a preety sappy one, I'd say..."

"Romance is lost on modern women..." he sighed...

I never said I didn't want the whole she-bang...she grinned...Though Dawny and the guys will just have to deal...

And dinner out sounds nice...Especially now that you'll be earning an honest living...

"But if I waited around for you to get moving..."

Crash!...Slam...William impaled the giant slug demon on the extended rifle of one of Sunnydale's

immortalized Civil War heroes...

Uggh...Buffy shook her head at the remnants...

"It's...Sometimes it's like we've always known each other..." he reflected to her, moving back

and resuming an interrupted conversation...

Far more important things to consider than the usual nonsense tonight...After her little pronouncement...

"Even from the first day Spike met you..."

"Excuse me...?" she paused, whirling...

"You mean all the time while he was ferrying Dru to the Hellmouth...In what seemed like quite a love quest, and seeking the gem, and doing his damnedest to clobber me...?"

"His...Our...Whole existence changed after we met..."

She turned serious...

"You keep talking about "us"...As if you were there when Spike was..."

"I don't feel as if I wasn't...I remember it...All of it..." he looked at her sadly a moment...

"And I remember trying...To reach out..."

She was rubbing her hands together a little nervously...That couldn't be...His soul...There...Aware...?

"Anything wrong, Buffy?"

"Cold...Just a little..." she rubbed her hands again...

He came over and began rubbing them...She smiled at him...Not a bad side result...But...

How could it be?...And yet...She knew he was telling the truth...Not only because she "believed" in William...But because...

Especially all that horrible year...When he'd struggled so to fight his nature and help her...

He was there...She'd sensed it...All the time...Fighting to reach her...

The reason she'd instinctively turned to him...At least she hoped so...Lord, it was a much better-sounding explanation than sexually craving Spike the mad killer...

And the reason why...She'd been so hurt, felt so...When he...Even though it seemed ridiculous to

have expected a demon to succeed in restraining himself...

No wonder that demon god had been so obliging...All he'd had to do was let the soul hovering round in...

Poor Spike could probably got have gotten the job done for half the cost in suffering...

But why...? Why would a soul, even one as noble as Will's...Have stayed round...?

They walked on...William, eyeing her but sensing she needed a moment, struggled to compose his own thoughts...

What to say?...She'd put it in words at last...In daily routine, not some desperate, 'we may never see each other again, so here's a bone' sit...There was no going back now...But, damn it, girl...A moment like this...So casual...Off-hand...

No...He stared at her...Not casual...Not off-hand...Anything but...

Forced out...After blood, sweat, and no doubt, countless tears...

How many nights had she torn herself up over this?...Even after the soul restoration and their struggle with the First...

Fighting with her heart and head...Weighing Spike's evil and crimes against William's love and virtues...

Judging the depth of her own feelings...Gratitude?...Compassion for a condemned one?...Or the real thing...?...Against her, of necessity, hard and practical Slayer nature...

And all the weight of the dead, evil past still pressing on them...The cries of the victims, the manifold curses of his vampiral nature...Immortality, daylight...

And...

What the guys would say?...

But she'd taken it all...And pushed it aside...For love of him...

The horrible thought crossed her mind as they walked, she glancing at him...(He was awfully quiet, suddenly, she noticed...)...What if Giles, the Council had been wrong, all these years?...If the souls always remained around...Watching...?

Salvageable...Savable...

Nah...She'd've known...Sensed it...

William was unique...

Naturally...She beamed at him...Catching his own beam at her...

Wow...They stared at each other...And whirled to confront the two vamps closing in on the rapt couple...Dispatching them instantly...

Guess Mom was right about him...she thought...Mum must have been pulling for me from Heaven to help me meet her...he thought...

Thank God I didn't finish him...her that time...When he had the gem...When I had the shotgun...Each thought happily...

Alternate Earth...Mears lair...

Warren beamed at William...So...

"You think I'm a clone?..." he smiled...

The two protecting clones, the Katrina and the Hunter Buffy, staring...But remaining focused on William...

"I've no doubt about it...I've met you before...At the Corporation, posing as the real Mears there too..."

"Your original should never have tried to improve his body odor...I never forget a scent..." William smiled back at Mears... "His...or yours..."

And I expected it...Mears would never risk confronting me directly...

He looked around as Mears frowned at him...

"So...Where is ole Warren?...Or do I have to summon a half-dozen Hunters to tear the place apart just to help him out...?"

"He might have been telling the truth..." a sad-eyed Dawn looked carefully at Xander...A Xander hardened by tragedy and suffering...But still with something in his face of the love that could and, in another existence would, save a world...

He made no reply, considering her sad face...Our poor Dawn...So much lost by her these past two short years...So certain that all of it...Not just their personal tragedy, but the whole world's suffering...Was her own fault...

If she had never been brought into existence...Or if she had leaped before Buffy...

So many lives might have been spared...So much destruction...Anya...And Tara...

And above all, Buffy...And the hideous offspring of Warren Mears' diabolical genius,

the Council's twisted ambitions, the world's desperate need...and poor William's longing...

All their longings...he corrected...

They'd all wanted it, prayed for it...He knew for a fact Willow had been seeking some way to bring her back...Hell, he'd have brought the material to Mears himself if he'd known it was possible...

Before they'd seen what spawned from poor Buffy's violated remains...

And they'd all accepted the result...The Hunters...Desecration of their poor friend as they were, they'd saved Humanity when all seemed lost...

So...They'd all made their compromises...Convinced themselves that Buffy would've have agreed for the world's sake...And accepted the situation...William taking the blame on himself, and bearing most of the burden, as Council-appointed Hellmouth Watcher, guardian/trainer of the Hunters...

Until Nemesis had appeared...And shown them the horror of what they'd done...To her...

And begun to take a vengeance that they all knew...Buffy would have desired, even if she might not have allowed herself...

But then...Nemesis was Buffy...Unrestrained...

He eyed Dawny carefully...

No, she wasn't to blame...Buffy could have died at any time, from any one of a thousand different threats...It was their response to her death, not the death itself that was the crime...

And poor Will...But how could he have resisted? Knowing as he did, who and what he'd lost when Buffy was killed...

He'd hoped for the miracle that they all had prayed for...Tried to achieve it in his usual, practical way...And the Powers That Be had answered in their usual twisted fashion...

Even now, even with the results of Will's attempt staring him in the face, Xander himself couldn't help contemplating the possibilities...for Anya...

If the bugs could just be...Worked out...The procedure carried out by another, humane supergenius...Maybe...

The dream he knew still haunting William...And all of them, really...

The nightmare that had taken form in Nemesis...

He stared at the three Hunters on guard duty in the LA apartment that was now the Summers home...One smiled gently at him...Hey, Xander...she waved, before returning to intently scanning for any potential danger...Utterly content in her life's work...

My Buffy...My sister...The woman who saved my and my Anya's lives time after countless time...And this is the reward we gave her...To be reborn over and over in a mindless body...Immortal enslavement...

Even poor Will, obsessed as he understandably was, saw what was happening...Tried to stop it...While I...

"Maybe..." he finally replied...

But I'm afraid we'll have to operate on the assumption that we can't completely trust him anymore, Dawny..."

He pulled out a cell phone...

"He...Might be trying to get Mears to help her...Cure her..." Dawn pleaded...

Xander...she looked at him..

"I know you hate her...You have the right..."

He shook his head...

"The odd thing is, Dawn...I don't hate her...I can't...I blame myself for this...I should've helped Will stop the Council when they sanctioned the Hunters' creation...But I went along...I wanted Buffy back...Even if only in a form to protect me and mine..."

Even as a slave of Humanity...he bowed his head...

"We all betrayed her...I can't hate her for wanting revenge..."

"But if Will can help her...Reach her...Even now..."

"Willow and Giles have checked on everything we could do for her, Dawn...Will knows that, and though he may still hope Mears has something...If he's helping her now, it's not to cure her...It's to help her escape..." his voice shook a moment, then was firm...

"And we have to stop her...Whatever it takes...Whoever tries to get in the way..."

Before any one else dies...He punched a redial button...

"Hello...This is Xander Harris in LA...I need to speak to Miss Rosenberg or Mr. Giles immediately..."

Hunter Buffy had sensed danger in William's threatening words...And was on her feet in a second...The Katrina moving up in support...

"William...Please stop...Or I will have to restrain you..."

"Right...Sorry..."He raised a hand...

"I never want to hurt you, girl...Believe me..."

"I can't let you hurt Dr. Mears, William..."

"This..." he pointed at a glaring Mears on the couch... "Is not Dr. Mears...It's a clone...Like you..."

"Do you have any idea what they...Mears and the Council..." he paused...

"What...We've...Done to you, Buffy...?"

Hunter Buffy eyed William...

"I'm sorry William...I am not capable of the kind of emotional responses I think you're seeking...

My function is to honor my original's memory by defeating evil and keeping Humanity safe...And protecting the father-creator, Dr. Mears...That leaves me content..."

But I am sorry if I'm causing you pain...

"I know, dear heart... he sighed... But I'm trying to help your Dr. Mears, not hurt him..."

"Then...Please don't use such threatening terms, William..." she replied, still watching carefully...

"Impasse...Mr. Walthrop..." Mears grinned...

"But...I concede...Excellent observational skills...I am a clone of Dr. Mears...One of his best..."

So...Now that some of my cards are on the table...How about some of yours?...

"For example...Where is my Nemesis...? Did she come with you?..." he smiled at Walthrop...

"And just how do you want to "help" my original?"

New Sunnydale...Normal Buffyverse...

Romance had taken a sudden side turn...

"Whatdya mean... Someone's got to help Dru...?" Buffy glared at William...Stopping in the middle of the last graveyard of their night's Patrol...

"She's Angel's responsibility..."

"Buffy...She called out to me that night...Her soul was seeking salvation..." William looked at her...

"She was seeking blood...Sex...And the first good-looking male moron to stumble into her path to provide both..."

"We both know Angel will never get round to helping her..."

Image of CEO Angel at desk, firing off calls... "Cheney, if you don't want the country to know who you hired for security details in Iraq..."

"...And I can't leave her as she is...Buffy...Could you...?" he paused, giving her a sly, sour look...

"Ah, right...You did leave me as I was..."

She blinked...Ummn...How to respond?...

"I didn't know there was a way to help you, besides immediate staking and how could I?..."

Hmmn...Accurate but lacking...Besides, what if he brought up that damned curse...And the Wolfram-Hart thing they'd used on Darla?...

"I couldn't stake you, William...Especially after the chip...And that year..." Hmmn...More feeling but didn't quite jibe with the cold using of their first year together...And same problem with the available alternatives...

"I didn't know what to do that year, I was so overwhelmed by my resurrection..." Good plea for sympathy, but didn't explain that time in the crypt when we were almost real lovers...And I still didn't even ask him his name...

"You love her still, huh?..." Yeah...Turn the tables and throw him off balance...

"Buffy..." he eyed her...

"Well..." she glared... "If you still love her that much..."

"I care what happens to her...Someone has to..." he paused...

"By the by...Why didn't you try to help me?..."

Lover...he eyed her...

Damn...she thought...Deflection failed...

Well...Mom always said honesty was the best way to go...

In small, easily handled doses...she also said...

"I was afraid Will...If I'd let you know how much I'd come to care...And you...er Spike...were just

trying a trick to get my guard down...Or even if Spike did love me, he might still take advantage of my feeling to turn me..."

I can't just say..."Welcome, let me help you..." and drop my stake every time a humanish vamp claims he or she just wants to regain their humanity...I'd be dead in a minute...As several of the more compassionate Slayers were...

Think of what happened to poor Dru...Trusted in Angelus' pleas for her prayers and...

"You could've staked me...Released my soul from the torment of knowing Spike was out and about..." he frowned "And, no...I don't love her that way..."

She listened to him go on...Part of his atonement, Dru's innocent soul, Angel would never help...never see or deliberately refuse to see Dru's importance to his redemption, think of all the potential victims of the only vampire never defeated by the Slayer in battle...Yadda, yadda, yadda...

He doesn't love her...That way...All she'd really heard...

"Well..." she nodded dutifully, realizing he'd reached the end of his arguments...

"I suppose we should help her...It should have been done before..."

"We...?" he blinked at her...

"Say, maybe we could get Harmony at the same time, poor kid...The same arguments apply..." Buffy noted..."And she was my classmate..."

Can you spell...Vacation...? LA vacation...? With my Will...

"You're absolutely right, William..." she nodded firmly... "We should go asap..."

"While our Slayers-In-Training are still here, it shouldn't be a problem for me to leave the Hellmouth...If Evil even tries anything new for at least another year or two..."

We...?

Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis... Part III...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universes Warren Mears...

Part III..

Alternate Earth...Mears lair...

"Well...?" clone Warren sat, arms folded on his sofa, watching William on the opposite loveseat carefully...

"How can you... Help...My original?...And where is my Nemesis?..."

"How would I know where she is?...But let me ask...You're that anxious to have her rip your head off?..."

William smiled... "You must know after what happened back at Mears, Inc how she feels about Daddy Warren..."

Hunter Buffy tensed a bit...

"The Nemesis isn't here, Buffy.." William quickly looked at her...

So far as I am aware...

"She didn't kill me...She could have..." clone Warren noted...

"She had to leave in a hurry...Besides she was still hoping to get something out of your original...Why do you think she was so patient that last week of testing after she finished her education cycle...Playing Daddy's grateful little girl?..." Will paused...

"She still is seeking something from him, you know...Which is why her attempts to re-enter the Corporation this past month were so stealthy...She could've just smashed in and killed you, even with the Hunter guards..." he smiled...

"Your "dad" outdid himself with this one..."

"What does she want?..."

"Ask her, I don't know...Probably info on how to remove any lingering traces of your original's handiwork..."

"Then she'll kill you...Him, I mean..." William smiled...

"But maybe she'll give you both kisses for being so nice and remember you fondly everafterwards..."

"I think...As does my original...That you know where she is, William..."

"After all..." clone Mears smiled...

"She's your wife...Your lost love of a century...Even as my Nemy you can't help loving her...Wanting to save her..."

"And she remembers it all...Thanks to me...My original..."

"She is Cicely again...All due to our work..."

"Yes...I have to remember to..." William eyed the Hunter... "Thank...Your original properly for bringing my Cicely back as well in her..."

"I...We're...Not to blame for the games of the Powers That Be, Walthrop...They let her be reincarnated...And die before she fully realized who you and she were..."

He leaned back against the cushions...A very good job, William had to admit...All of Mears' arrogant smirk, everything...Only the utter cowardice removed...The real smoking gun as to the clone's true nature...

He requested the Katrina clone fetch drinks..."Scotch still yours...?" he eyed William who nodded...

"And maybe...A little something special?...You're looking a trifle pale...?"

"I have my own, thanks...Fresh from the butcher..." Will patted a side pocket...

The clone nodded and settled back...Relaxing a bit...

"Where is she, William?...Maybe I...Or he...Can give her what she wants...Still..."

"After all...You know I don't really give a damn what the Council wants..." he smiled...

"Can't help you there, Mearsy..." William folded his arms... "But...Maybe it isn't improvement...Or repair she's after..."

Oh...?

"Maybe...It's Gateway..."

"Gateway...?" the clone couldn't help a blink...He is a great job, Will noted...

Maybe even a little too good...Mears let a little unwanted knowledge slip in...

"What's Gateway...?"

"The Council observers aren't all fools, Mears...You think your other projects went unnoticed?..."

"Never heard of it...But then, maybe my original didn't need me to know...What is it?..."

William smiled...The clone knew something...It wasn't a mistake to have come...

"An escape for our boy Warren...Who's been getting antsy under the Council's benevolent thumb all this time..."

"Oh...? It's true my original wasnt impressed with your efforts to protect him and the Corporation from Nemesis...But why should he want to escape being head of the most important company on Earth?...All the riches and power a man could want?...Not to mention..." he smiled benevolently at the Hunter...

"Our Warren doesn't like playing second fiddle...And he knows the Council will only allow him so much freedom...They took his Hunters away and micro-managed his work...Even your girls here...And you...Are violations of their agreement with him..." Will paused to take his drink from the Katrina...

"And how could he have created more like Nemesis with the new regime the Council was going to impose on him after she popped up...? No...No...Our Warren likes to play on his own...He wants out...Which is probably a wise move as the Council must inevitably choose to terminate him in time after what happened with Nemesis..."

"And just where would my original escape to?...The Council with your friends at their side...And the Hunters...Have the run of the world...He's lucky to keep in the shadows from them...And Nemesis...now..."

"Another Earth...Which must appeal to a sci-fi nerd like Warren...To arrive somewhere where no one is prepared for him...Where he can rule unchecked...And yet, all his old enemies are around, just clueless..."

The clone regarded him...Impassive...

"What good would running to some other world do?...Where things might be even worse than here?..."

William chuckled a little... "Mears?...Take a chance like that?...Hardly...No, he's been at this for a couple of years now...Ever since the Council muscled in on his little operation...He's been looking for just the right world...A nice little Earth where things have been going well and there are no Hunters or Nemys looking for him...And no other power-mad opponents, including alternate Warrens, living to challenge him..."

"Sad that he had to abandon the project and flee the Corporation just when he'd almost succeeded..."

"But then, he pushed Nemesis along to completion just because he hoped to take her with him...Pity he underestimated my Buffy's spirit...Even reawakened in a thing like Nemesis she was too much for him..."

The clone remained impassive to the end...Then laughed a little...

"Pretty far-fetched, William...Is there any more?..."

"Just that the Council is studying the Gateway components they found...Theyre still intact at the main lab...If someone with clearance could get your original back into the Corporation...The system could be up and running in a few hours..."

He sighed...

"Sure would beat hiding out here for what little time Mearsy can hope to elude us...And even if the Council and Willow could reconstruct the system...Unlikely if it were destroyed in the escape...It would likely take centuries to find the right alternate Earth without Mears' coordinates..."

"And..." the clone smiled... "If my original wanted to use this "system"...You really think he couldn't evade your Council security...?"

Not with six Hunters patrolling Mears Corp. he couldn't...William replied...

"But their Watcher could get him in..."

Hmmn...clone Warren nodded, thoughtful...

"Buffy..." he gave a sharp look at the Hunter...Who with a rush, leaped at William and knocked him unconscious...

"Sorry...William..." she hesitated, looking at his prone form...

"I didn't want to hurt you..."

"He'll be all right?..." she looked at clone Warren who nodded...

"He'll be fine, Buffy...I promised you he wouldn't be hurt seriously...And he won't..."

"I can stay with him...? Make sure... I mustn't let Evil be done... And he is William..."

Yes...You can...This is just for my protection...he waved to the Katrina...

"Take him...Buffy has to remain on alert..." she picked Walthrop up and waited...

This way...The clone activated a hidden door in the side wall...And went through...Katrina with William and an anxious-looking Hunter Buffy following...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part IV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part IV..

Alternate Earth, outside the Mears lair...

Nemesis Buffy waited in the bushes near the front door of the ruined-looking old house in which, she hoped...Dear ole "Dad" was hiding...

Though her instincts were to waste no time and charge whatever he had waiting for her...She was aware that subtler methods were called for in this instance...And therefore had agreed to her William's plan...But...Waiting was such a drag...

And she was nervous for William...Warren always a trick or three up his sleeve...He'd even eluded the Council at times...And if she was to survive...William must survive as well...

But he wouldn't, couldn't fail her...Not her William...He'd die first, she knew...

She counted on it...

But, God...Wish he'd get on with it and summon her...She was not made for waiting...

And was rather anxious to see Warren's face when she came waltzin' back in his door...

Vice-Chairman of the Royal Council of Antiquarians and Library Scientists, Rupert Giles had as he liked to note to friends, a large office, a grand title, and absolutely no authority at all...The Council had raised him to a sinecure after the creation of the Hunters, primarily to keep the Hunter guardians...Buffy Summers' ole gang of friends and coworkers...Happy...

However...He did have connections...And he had been retained by the Council in part for just the sort of emergency the appearance of Nemesis had created...

So it was to him they'd turned to coordinate operations against her...After their initial efforts had failed...

Who better than her old Watcher?, as Chairman Travers had so smoothly put it...

Who better...To organize the hunting down and killing of the poor twisted aberration of Buffy Summers they'd allowed to come into existence...

His desk phone blinked...A call was coming through...Xander Harris, LA...

He thought a moment...No, best not to bring Willow in just yet...Not until he'd heard Xander out...

In her current state...With their suspicions of poor William...And he wanted to try and save the boy if it could still be done...The one thing he could yet do to make some amends to dear Buffy...

Whatever trust might have been betrayed, he could hardly blame the poor lost fool for falling in love with all that was left of her...His beloved of the past and present...

It would be hard for any man not to fall in love with Nemesis...

Nemesis Buffy pondered...Surely something must be going wrong...It was taking too long for Will's summons by concealed beeper...

Still, if she smashed the door down and rushed in...Dear ole "Dad" might slip through their fingers...If he hadn't already...No, William had been right...Subtle...Subtil...

Bastard Warren...He deliber...Deliberally...Damn...He did this to me on purpose...His little everlasting joke on Buffy Summers...

As if her brain-dead "sisters" weren't enough...But then he'd never got over her exposing his little side traffic in sex clones to his girl Katrina, especially his own little April, back in the before time...

Kat's image of noble young Dr. Mears, benefactor of Humanity via his cloning research, had taken quite a fall that day...A pleasant memory still, his humiliated face...

Not perhaps as good as his terrified face...Or at least his clone's terrified face, if Will had been right about the Mears who'd been running the main lab's daily operations then...When she'd trashed the place and killed every Hunter she could get her hands on...The developing ones as well as the fully adult...

That was quite a face he'd worn that day...

Well, anyway...Being cautious...Was called for here...For William's sake as well as her own...

But she had considered this...And she had a fall-back plan...

She wasn't stupid after all...Just trouble with big words...Sometimes...Mearsy's little "dumb blonde" joke...

All she had to do was make a little of the right kind of noise...And see who came to investigate...

And with luck...

"Hey!...Warren Mears!..." she screamed...

Ok, maybe it wasn't all that cautious a plan...

Rushing steps...Crap...Sounds wrong...

Ah...The door opened slowly...Come to Mama...

Another Katrina, in maid's outfit...Not quite what she'd hoped for...But...

"Hi..." she sprang up...And jerking the clone into the bushes, snapped her neck in a second...

Hmmn...Well...No surveillance camera that she could see...Or hear...And her hearing was pretty good at catching security systems like that, thanks to Warren's genetic manipulations...Plus with her speed, a camera would have to work hard to catch her...

Though Warren might have allowed for that...

Well, a risk had to be taken...And she wanted more company...One of her sisters in fact...If she could just get to see her alone a moment...After all, her wig had been chosen by dear ole Willie to match her sisters' darker hair color...

And she'd impersonated Hunters before...

Just had to look dumb and docile and do everything the guy in charge said...Until the right moment...

Hmmn...Someone else coming to the door...I hear the footsteps...

I know those footsteps...Beautiful...And just one...

Thank...you...sister...She rose up stealthily...Just as the Hunter reached the door...

Warren should work on his security...Nemesis shook her head...But, guess he hadn't really had much time to prepare the place...

Hope Will isn't dead...Or whatever...Yet...I need him...she thought as she undressed her dead "sister"...

It was good it had worked out this way, actually...She'd have to deal with any Hunters Warren had kept round for his own use, sooner or later...Now one less for poor Will to see her with...He hated to see her deal with her "sisters"...Especially the ones entrusted to his care...Like those waiting at Mears Corporation...Sweet, really...

But then, he always was a sweet man...Even sweeter than poor Willie...

So nice to have him back with me...she beamed...Dragging the dead Hunter over to where the dead Katrina lay in the bushes...

A vague fear crossed her mind...What if?...Nah, Warren wouldn't dare...William is fine...He'll be fine...

After all, except for the problem with the rest of the guys, things had been working out kinda nice since her rebirth...At least since she'd escaped the Corporation...

She pulled the wig on...And slipping through the open doorway, checked herself in a hall mirror...Pasting a benign and placid look on her face...Content to be spending her life in the guardianship of Humanity...and, for this particular brace of prototype Hunters...protection of dear ole Warren...

And God knew what else...Though she could imagine what dear ole "dad" did with his Hunters...

She looked at the cell phone the Hunter had carried, punched the redial, and waited...

"Buffy H-5?..." a voice asked...A Katrina, she recognized...

"Hi...I'm at the front door...No problems...Coming back in..." she brightly spoke into the phone...

"Password?..."

Ummn...She looked down the hall to the door sealing off the rest of the place...Probably a stout one, despite its ordinary look...And she could now hear the sounds of a number of people, including one of her "sisters" behind it...

"Password...?" the Katrina repeated...

"Obi-wan...?" she tried...Well, that was the old password...

Fast moving steps behind the door...Shit, must be a silent alarm...Great...All this acting effort and I still hafta do the charge thing...She tensed...

Hey...I smell something...Crap...

So Warren did have something up his sleeve...Gas...Well...No use standing around to see if it works...

She raced down the hall, feeling a little wobbly at the end...Must to be pretty strong stuff to affect her...Based on sarin nerve gas at the very least...And smashed into the door...Stumbling through...

Hmmn...I was sure there were more back here...They must've run...she thought as a Katrina and a Hunter opened gunfire on her...

Ow!...A couple of bullets struck home in her legs...But her enhanced Slayer physiology allowed for instant tissue regeneration...And the clones had clearly been instructed not to aim for vital areas...

Not that she'd allow them a vital target...

"Hi..." she shook the Hunter...Who struggled in her grip...The Katrina was already down...

"Where's Warren...?" she asked, a friendly tone...

The Hunters were, after all, a bit on the dim side...Sometimes a direct question...Oops...Something dropped from the Hunter's belt...Hmmn...A grenade, pin still in...

Dear ole Dad...He obviously still wanted her alive, if possible...But best not to take chances on kamikaze orders...And this one didn't seem willing...Or perhaps, capable...of answering her question...

Hmmn...She turned the now dead clones over...Nothing on them so far as security badges or instructions...

Poor sister...she stared at the Hunter Buffy a second...

Better off dead of course but still...

"Sorry I won't have time to help you all...Sister...Maybe someday I'll be back..." she whispered to the dead clone, scooping the grenade, and beginning to search the rooms beyond hurriedly...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...

"We should go out and find her..." a fuming Dawn noted to Willow and two puzzled-looking Slayers-in Training...

We should go find the Slayer?...She needs our? "Help"?...the two SITs eyed each other...

"Dawn..." Willow sighed...

Buffy is a big girl...And can handle...Things...

Even if the First did weaken her a bit...Temporarily...

But she knew demons and vamps in general were not Dawn's major concern...

Just one specific vamp...

Poor Will...Willow sighed to herself...He battled his own demon nature to love Buffy, protected Dawn all that time Buf was gone...He's won his soul back for love of Buffy, stood with her fighting the First, risked his existence a thousand times...Done the right thing, hiding out in LA ...

Ok, that depends on your pov...But the intention was laudable...

He's taken over Giles' old Watcher's spot...He's trying to work things out for both him and Buffy college-wise via new Chairman Giles and the Council's "connections"...He even took an extra job at Doublemeat...What the hell's a guy gotta do to win over the family?...

Course Buf did hint the other night at the Bronze that maybe it wasn't so much fear for older Sis...

Maybe not even all fear of losing fill-in Mom Buf's total attention and devotion...

There's no doubt she'd had a little girl thing for Spike...Hell, Xander remembers the specific day she dumped him as "crush" object for Mr. Blonde...

And she was made from Buf...

Unfortunately we can't just burn a jacket this time...For either of the Summers girls...

Unless...I do a reverse love spell...Burning William's jacket...Or burning William in his jacket...

Nah...Even Xander wouldn't go for that now...

"Somebody...Human...Should be watching out for her..." Dawn noted darkly, turning on her heel and heading for the kitchen...

"Hey, short, red, and Wiccan..." Kennedy, the smaller and dark-haired of the two SITs moved over to Willow as Dawn left...nudged her...

"What's up with the Annoying One...?"

Neither Dawn nor Kennedy had "grown" on each other...

William...Willow mouthed...

Kennedy shook her head...

"He's got a soul, he's brave, dependable, he's holding a job, and he'd be round all day to watch the kiddies...Hers as well as Buf's...What's not to like...?"

I'd even say he was...A knockout...

"Amen..." Brenda, the other SIT present, grinned...

"What is it with you guys and vampires?..." Willow shook her head as Brenda left...

"A knockout...Were I of that persuasion..." Kennedy grinned at Willow...

Oh...she paused...Wait...

That's it...

"Our little Dawny has a crush on Sis' boyfriend..."

Aww...

"Don't get her started..." Willow frowned...

"She'd end up staking him just to spite us..."

Kennedy put up a hand...O...K..

"Well..." she resumed...Putting an arm about Willow...

"What we need is a deflection guy...How's 'bout Xander?..."

Time we got him a new girl...

"Xander...?" Willow pulled out of the embrace...

"No way...He's my fall-back guy..."

'Case you bomb out...she smiled sweetly...

"Leastways until I find him the perfect mate...A straight me..."

Only someone worthy of him...I will keep my promise, Anya...she thought...

"Jonathan is more your speed..." Kennedy noted solemnly...

"I could do worse..." Willow grinned back...Hugging her...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part V...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part V..

Alternate Earth, deep within the Mears lair...

"Are the doors all sealed?..." an anxious Mears...Clone?...was asking the Hunter who'd accompanied the Katrina carrying William...William now laid on a low bench with the Katrina sitting next to him...

She passed on his question into her cell phone to the clones further back...Yeah, she nodded to him...

"But the Nemesis is through the first door...The gas did not stop her..."

"Didn't think it would..." he noted...A trifle proudly...His little Nemesis...

William stirred and sat up, blinking...

"Hey, Will..." the Hunter beamed, pleased...

Sorry...she bit her lip at him...Then resumed watching the door to the long tunnel chamber they'd entered...

"Hardly the way to engender trust, Mearsy..." Will looked up at Warren...? Yeah, same scent, clone...As he came over...

"You lied to me about Nemesis, Walthrop..." the clone Mears replied...

But, hey...I and my original figured you would...he smiled...

"You'll be pleased to hear your girl is on her way...Already through the front door, dispatched several of my guards..."

He grinned...

"You're a lucky bastard, Walthrop...My Nemy doesn't give her heart to many..."

Her body...Well, different story...

"She needs me..." William replied... "I don't have any illusions about that..."

"Oh..." clone Mears shook his head... "I don't believe that...But then I'm a romantic...And a sucker for a story of true love..."

He looked over at the Hunter...Still carefully watching the door, evaluating best defense positions...

"And this one is such a romantic tale...Right, Buffy?..." he called over to the Hunter, who looked back...

"I'm sorry Warren..." the Hunter stared at him...

"I'm not able to make the kind of emotional response I think you want..."

Pity...clone Warren shrugged...The Hunter quickly eyed William...

"Are you feeling better, Will?..." she asked...

"Yes, Buffy...Thanks..." she smiled and returned to her observation...

He looked at clone Mears...

"So...Shall we dispense with the little games and get down to business?...Before Nemesis reaches us...And your throat..."

"And you say..." Giles paused... "He told you he thought he could get to Mears if he went alone...Before she found him..."

"Yeah..." Xander's voice came over the speakerphone...Some faint clattering in the background suggesting the continuing presence of a hovering, anxious Dawn...

"I know it was crazy to let him go, even under observation, Giles...But it made a kind of sense...And I wanted him to have his chance to clear himself..."

"It does make sense...She's definitely focused on our dear Dr. Mears...And not simply for revenge..."

"Giles...?" Dawn interrupted... "Will could be trying to do just what he said...And give us a chance to take her alive..."

He sighed...Even with all that's happened...Taken alive?...We'd be lucky to kill her without destroying a major city to do it...

"Perhaps, Dawn...But please...I must speak to Xander alone..."

"Giles...You promise...You'll hear William out...? For Buffy's sake?..."

He can't help himself...He loves her...her voice was tense...

"Dawn...More than anything I want to help him...Bring him back to us...Intact...And I swear I will, if it can still be done..."

"Ok...Here's Xander...Say hi to Willow..."

"Giles?..." the caution in Xander's voice suggested Dawn was still hanging...

"Xander...We think we may know what Nemesis is seeking from our Dr. Mears...It appears he left something interesting behind at the Corporation labs...A little side project of sorts..."

"Then...She'll wind up at the Corporation...Sooner or later...?"

"We think so..."

"What about the Hunters?...Should I pull them out?...Or are you and Willow coming?..."

"Xander..." he began carefully...

"She's gone, Giles...What do you want me to do...?"

Giles hesitated...

"I don't want to involve Willow unless it's absolutely necessary...She's got no conception of the danger in handling the kind of power she'd need to face Nemesis...As for William...If there's any chance to help him before it's too late, take it...But only after you're sure she's neutralized..."

Meaning...Dead...Or about to die...Xander realized...

As there was only one possible way to stop the magics-resistant Nemesis short of super-Willow clobbering her to a stupor...A way that was unlikely to allow a chance to help William...

"She must be stopped, Xander...At all costs...Especially if she and William are planning what I think they may be planning..."

"I'll pull the Hunters out...Except for a couple to keep her from getting suspicious..." Xander paused...

"The charges are set...There's enough explosive material in the labs to equal a small atom bomb...When I get the word she's in..."

An end to the horror, Giles sighed...

Including the Hunters as well, except for the survivors...No other facility on Earth could match Warren's skill...And with him and his shop of horrors gone thank God, even the Council couldn't hope to continue the clone line...And when the last Hunter died...Someday...The original Slayer line might at last resume its normal course...

Though he no longer cared really whether Humanity survived or not...Perhaps it didn't deserve to survive...

Odd that Nemesis would have accomplished two of her goals in the end, he thought...Ending the Hunter horror...And fleeing this nightmare world with her William...

Poor Xander, waiting...For absolution, he realized...

"Yes...I think that's all we can do, Xander...Proceed..." Giles quietly told him... "It's the only way...And what she would want...My boy..."

He looked over at the wall in front of his desk...A picture of them all, in happier days...The "before time" Nemesis had called it, the one time he'd met her at the Corporation...It must have been taken just after Buffy had learned of his soul recovery from William...Will beaming at a shyly smiling Buffy as the rest tried to look reasonably comfortable at the thought of their Slayer and her vampiral, if human-souled lover...Glory must have been on her way to them even then...Just as she and Will were beginning to try and learn the truth about their joint past...

What bastard ruled the Universe to let them find each other after a century, rip them apart again...Then follow-up with this hideous... "practical joke"...?

"We'll try to get Will out in time...If we can..." Xander, still hoping to save something from the wreckage...His brother, "in-law", if not his poor sister...

Get him to abandon her...Again?...No, Giles thought...We lost them both the day we let the Council know about Mears' project...When Will begged us to let him destroy what he'd given Mears...And all we could think of was getting Buffy back to save our miserable hides...

If we could save him now, he'd slip off somehow and join her in death...It's why they found each other really...His soul, clinging around Spike, waiting for her, sure his Cicely would one day come for him...She returning again and again to search for the husband she'd tried to save and lost...

Forcing him to stay without her would be the real crime...Still, for Xander and Dawn's...And Buffy's sakes the effort had to be made...

"If you can...But remember, Xander...Stopping her is your top priority...And he knew what the consequences of helping her were likely to be..."

Forgive me, Buffy...Only child I will or could ever have...Forgive my cowardice in ever letting them torment you, my beloved daughter in spirit...May you find peace at last in Heaven with your Will, dear Joyce, and even that miserable fool of a father, if you wish him...Whatever happens to us here without you...

"Those are my orders, Xander..."

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...

A familiar knock at the Summers' door pulled three SITs in the living room away from their "Scooby-Doo" TV marathon to eager welcoming spots by the door...Dawn racing in with a rapid change of mood...Determined to assert her privileged status as both Slayer sis...and half-owner of the place...

The others yielded the greeting to her reluctantly...Willow and Kennedy coming down the stairs just as Dawn put a cheery smile on her face and opened the door...

"Xander?...Hey!..." she beamed at him...

He giving her a gentle, slightly lost smile back...Hey...

"Hey, Xander!..." the three SITs chorused...

He waved...

Willow raced over...Xander...Kennedy following...But kindly leaving just enough space...

"How's my yellow crayon lover?..." Willow whispered in his ear...Kissing him...

"Getting through..." he nodded...

"Dinner's almost ready..." Dawn noted...

"Buffy?..." he looked around...Ah...Well, better an early Patrol...At least she'll get a night's sleep...

"Will did go with her, right?..." he eyed Dawn...

Ummn...? Well...He left to meet up with her when Willow brought him over from the Box...

"Urggh...Did she slip out again?..." he sighed...

"Doesn't she realize she'll never get her strength back if she gets herself killed by some nobody...Why can't she just let William and me..." The SITs eyed him... "And the rest of us...Handle things..."

Dawn was frowning a bit again at the thought of William out on the town with her sis...Good as it might be that Buf had some help with her...

Willow gave Xander a look, seeing he'd caught Dawn's glare...

Oh...

But Dawn pulled herself out of it...More important things to consider than Buffy's fool romance...Xander seemed a bit more down than yesterday...

And she'd promised Anya not to let him get too down...A promise she meant to keep...

And a task the SITs at hand were more than happy to assist in...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part VI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part VI...

Alternate Earth, Council Vice-Chairman Giles' office, London...

"Don't ever go...I love you...so..."

Those were the first words she'd ever said to Will, Giles reflected, sitting at his desk after finishing his phone call to Xander...When a smirking Mears had invited them to the Corporation to see his latest in the Hunter series...Modified only within the Council's firm parameters of course...

Not that either he or William had wanted to see Mears' latest...Another poor near-mindless creature with Buffy's face smiling at them...Eager to give her all for Humanity and the Council...Perhaps tweaked towards a little more intelligence and all the more heartbreaking for it...

But it was their duty to go...And their penance, each knew the other instinctively felt...

The "husband" and the "father" of the one they'd failed...

And there had been some concern on the part of the Observers placed at the Corporation that Mears might have been slipping round their attempts to restrain his playing with poor Buffy's neurogenetic material...Not to mention his own...

Mears of course hadn't been able to restrain himself...Despite the danger of the Council learning what he'd done...An utter violation of his agreement with them...He'd been desperate to see poor Will's reaction to Nemesis...

Though he'd had sense enough to warn her to copy the Hunters' overall placid and submissive behavior...And for her own reasons, she'd done her best to comply...

They'd met just outside the Mears Corporation's main lab building that day, three months ago...In the early evening, just as the sun had faded enough for Will to stroll about freely...He could've used Willow's daylight protective spell, of course, but as it had a limited time and could not be used too frequently, he preferred to be conservative in its use...

Besides...To meet yet another Hunter, especially one a bit more aware...Was hardly an event calling for sunlight...

"Giles..." William had nodded to him, shaking hands...Two Hunters attentively by his side, in training mode, the Vice-Chairman had realized...His Hellmouth Watcher not one to waste time under any circumstances and especially for an event like this...

"Will, my boy..." Rupert had paused...Staring at Walthrop's exhausted, but impassive face...

"You've been pushing things too hard, William..." he'd eyed him...One of the Hunters nodding attentively...

"Will works too hard...He's very tired, Giles..." she'd noted...He staring at her...Surprising to see even that little bit of real Buffy in her...Surprising...And quietly horrifying...

The other, clearly a little less developed, wanly nodded in faint agreement...Too hard...

"I'm quite well, Giles, ladies...Thanks..." he'd told them...

Fortunately both had quickly focused their limited abilities on the tasks at hand...Securing of the perimeter, scouting of any possible threats to the Vice-Chairman, their Watcher, or Humanity in general...Tasks they took obvious pleasure in fulfilling...

The only joy allowed them in their limited lives...And William, their trainer and guardian, whatever pain it caused him, was careful to reassure and thank them individually for their efforts at every possible opportunity...

He'd wanly smiled at Giles...Well taken care of, as you can see...Not even factoring Dawn in...

"Well..." Giles had nodded, frowning involuntarily at the lab doors... "Shall we see what our Dr. Mears has to show us?..."

"Lets get it over with..." Will had looked away...Avoiding the eyes of the more advanced Hunter who'd returned with a brief report...All secure, she'd beamed...

William?...

"Yes, pet...Alls secure...Thank you...And please thank your sister..."

They'd entered, the Hunters carefully following...Passing the huge portrait of Dr. Warren Mears, Earth's greatest scientific genius (at least, self-proclaimed)...Acclaimed savior of millions through his cloned organs...And secretly, savior of Humanity with his Buffy-Hunters...In equally secret partnership with the Council of Watchers...

"Gentlemen..." a beaming late-thirtiesish Mears had come through a huge hall door...An attentive Katrina secretary by his side...Two more Hunters...Earth's savior requiring round-the-clock protection (and surveillance)...following...

"William...Giles..." both smiled at the two visitors...

"Alls well..." one noted to William...Who'd nodded...

"Warren behaving himself?..." he unable to resist the chance to rub it in Mears' face that he was for all purposes, a prisoner...Of his own success, really...

But Mears remained all congeniality...After all, the joke was on his side...It was Will...And all those who'd loved Buffy who suffered...

For him, it was simply his great practical joke on Buffy Summers, the woman who'd humiliated him three years ago...Just as he'd reached the beginning of his incredible climb to fame...

Her strength and ability turned against her...Used to force all those who cared for her to accept his twisted "resurrection" as the only possible way to save a suffering world...

And he'd had an even better joke to spring that day...

She was singing...To a rather nice recorded back-up...When Mears led them into the training room where the developing Hunters received what passed for a brief education...

She stopped abruptly...And gave them a careful glance as they entered...A look of recognition in her eyes that Giles knew would haunt him until the day he died...Hopefully soon, he thought...Looking out the window of his London office...

A slight, but definite glare at the four Hunters who'd entered with them...

Warren hastily had urged her to continue her song...Watching their reactions...

And with a look at William...She'd sung the words...To him...

Then paused... "Giles?...William?...That's "The Look of Love"...I've been learning it..."

Any good?...she'd smiled at them...

"I think I'm singing better these days..."

William trembling as he stared back at her...

"Let me sing it from the beginning for you...You can't really judge til you hear it through..." she'd grinned...

(The Look of Love...Burt Bacharach)

[Suggested main theme...(get the Dusty Springfield version, even sounds like SMG singing (well) as a mp3 file)]

"The look of love is in your eyes

A look your smile can't disguise

The look of lo-ove is saying so much more than just words could ever say

And what my heart has heard, well it takes my breath away

I can hardly wait to hold you, feel my arms around you

How long I have waited

Waited just to love you, now that I have found you

Don't ever go You've got the

Look of love, it's on your face

A look that time can't erase

Be mine toni-ight, let this be just the start of so many nights like this

Let's take a lover's vow and then seal it with a kiss

I can hardly wait to hold you, feel my arms around you

How long I have waited

Waited just to love you, now that I have found you

Don't ever go

Don't ever go...

I love you so..."

"William?..." she'd stared after him as he fled the room...Mears smiling faintly to the side...

"Spike...?" she called...He'd halted just a second, stared back at her...And ran...

"Giles?...Is William all right?..." she'd turned to him...And in his turn, he'd trembled...This was no Hunter...

But he'd had the satisfaction of seeing Warren look a bit...As she'd stared over at him as well...Her father-creator...With clear hatred in her eyes...

Whatever Mears had hoped for in creating her, this Buffy was not the creator-worshiping type...Though she'd quickly pasted a devoted Hunter look on her face...

"Is William all right?...I didn't mean to..." she'd looked at Giles again...

"He's fine, Buffy...Just surprised to see you again...It's been so long..."

Only two years...she'd smiled back...

And a century...she'd added...Looking carefully at her old Watcher's face...For signs of reaction, he'd realized...

"I must speak to Dr. Mears a moment, my dear...Then may I come and see you again?..." he'd smiled at her as best he could...

"Please..." she'd beamed...Buffy back for a moment...But then... "I want to...See you, Giles..." she'd eyed him...A look on her face...Part innocent Buffy the loving "daughter"-student, part a seductive look he'd never seen...At least for him...But one he sensed bore calculation...And part...A brief flash of anger and hatred...A rage so deep, he'd thought...It might even equal what he deserved...

"Mears..." he'd eyed the somewhat nervous Warren...Signaling two of the Hunters to escort the good doctor to a conference room...The others to locate the departed William...

"Bye..." she'd called to him...

The one and only time he'd seen her...He'd known, even then, that he must never see her again...

Else, like poor Will, he'd never be able to destroy her...Only die at her hands...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part VII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part VII...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...

"If you're that anxious to see the Brooding One again..."

"Spike..." Buffy glared... Swinging back to stake a charging female vamp...

OW!...the female howled...She'd missed her mark yet again...Damn...

Dusting them quick was one thing...She hated to hurt them and it seemed to upset William a little...

She could tell from the way he flinched...All five times tonight when she'd been off.

The female reared up, humiliated as well as bloodthirsty...The Slayer hadn't even thought enough of her to take her out with a proper stake to the heart...Geesch...

A second blow found its mark...Phew...This time at least she'd recovered before he could do it for her...God, she thought...Gotta get Giles to do something to speed up my recovery...This weakened state was the pits.

Not that she'd completely minded Will stepping in like that for her...Kinda sweet, you know...

What a guy William must have been back in...Ah, right 1880...That's the year he'd told her he'd died in...Back at the bar that time...Clearly a noble, gentlemanly soul...

Not that she'd ever bought that "always been bad, baby" crap.

And now he wanted to go rescue or at least free the soul of the fiend who'd murdered him...Wow...

Especially considering he "didn't love her that way..." she quoted to herself contentedly.

Mom was right about him...she beamed at him as he looked up and down the central row of tombstones they stood in.

"What?..." he caught her staring at him...

Oh...Right...he thought, breaking into his gentlest boy's smile...

She loves me too...

Alternate Earth, London, Council Vice-Chairman Giles' office...

The "before time" Nemesis'd called it...All the memories of Buffy's life reawakened in her...

Mears' greatest triumph...The worthless little bastard...Whom Giles'd had taken to a conference room after his sole interview with Nemesis...Where the Vice Chairman had demanded all videotapes and records on this latest Buffy clone's birth and development.

William had come in, gently pulled along by the Hunters sent to find him...

"Sorry, Giles...I..." Giles had waved a hand and shook his head...

"I wanted to run myself, Will..." he'd indicated a chair which his Hellmouth Watcher took and returned to viewing the tapes Warren had hastily provided.

Mears happily watching them from his seat at the other end of the conference table...He'd recovered from his little burst of nervousness when Nemesis had dropped her guard for a moment to show him a little of the true feeling for her "father-creator" that burned within her heart...Bit disturbing, considering the lengths he'd gone to to try and ensure that she and he would have a harmonious, perhaps one day even...close...relationship.

"What can you tell me about your earlier life, Miss Summers?..." the technician interviewing the new Buffy in the tape Giles was viewing asked her...Obviously early in her education and training cycle, not long after she'd reached maturity...A technician he and Will recognized...As had she...

She'd stared at him in wonder...

"I knew you...In the before time...Jonathan?...It's you, isn't it?...Nice to see you again..." she'd smiled.

Ummn...Jonathan stared back...And then at the camera...Cutting the tape briefly...

Giles had glared at Mears...Now clearly stifling his trademark giggle...

"What have you done, Mears...?" the Vice Chairman's voice had been icy...His overall power in the Council hierarchy might be limited, but in Sunnydale and on the subject of Warren Mears, particularly with William and the Hunters to back him up, his word was absolute...

"What do you mean?..." Mears had given the miffed look of a cruelly wronged savior of Humanity... "Look at her...She's perfect, a much improved Hun..."

"She's no Hunter!..." William had stood up in a rage...

"Damn you, Mears!...The Council's ordered you not to make any more experiments with her tissue!...You've been mucking around with yourself, that's obvious...But you had no right to..."

"Finish bringing Buffy back for you?..." Mears had beamed...

That's what I've done, you know...You two saw it yourself.

"I don't know what you've created here Mears, but that was not Buffy Summers in that room..." Giles had resumed coldly.

"And Will is right...You and the Council had a strict agreement...You have violated that agreement..."

"You don't want her back...As she was...?...Good ole Buffy...With her brain intact, more or less...Now that I finally have te skill...And experience from the others..."

Or did you prefer her in Hunter form?...He'd stifled a nervous giggle.

"That was not Buffy Summers..." Giles repeated.

"No?...Who, then?...Her demon twin?..."

"You've abused her for the last time, Mears..." Will had said coldly.

Hey...? I resent that, Walthrop...Mears had glared...

"I never touched her..."

"Probably she'd of killed you inside of a minute if you had...But any fool can see you've altered her..."

Will had tensed...Balancing chip firing and the reaction of the two Hunters present against the chance of twisting Mears' head off his neck at last...But...

Too brave...Or stupid...He'd suddenly realized, as he'd noted to Giles later...Staring at the glaring Mears...

Warren Mears would never have challenged him like that...And there was something else different about him...But the sudden reduction in Mears' instinct for self-preservation had been the main giveaway...Even Giles had caught it right away.

The vampire had relaxed...No point in strangling a clone of Mears as they both had realized this must be...Not to mention throwing away the best chance to get a lock on the bastard's true whereabouts as somehow the original had managed to elude the Council's intense and constant scrutiny.

A few minor improvements...clone Warren had waved a hand, bursting with leering pride...She's much stronger than even the Hunters...Better reflexes...Eyesight...Eye and hand coordination...

"But...I was able to finally recover most of the old brain structure...Including the old memory engrams and neuronal patterns...And improve things...In some ways...There as well..."

Nature had made Buffy Summers, the supernatural might have made her the Slayer, but Warren Mears had made her...Nemesis...he'd eyed them...

Seeing his guests' furious faces, the savior of Humanity...Or at least, his clone...Had come down to earth a little...

"I've brought her back...You guys could show a little appreciation..."

Pity he was only a clone...Giles had thought, like William earlier...No point in killing the bastard...Yet...Not the time to reveal that they knew...See just how much information the original had provided the copy.

And, there was the benefit that the clone Warren would be available to stand in for Mears after the Council had pronounced punishment for the original...Probably a quick and painless execution...

He and Will could then provide more appropriate punishment for the original...

But first things first...He had had to know...She'd seemed so...Buffy...Yet...He, like Will, could see something else in her...Something terrible...

Or, perhaps, better to say...Some terrible lack...

"For the moment, Dr. Mears...No action will be taken against her...You are confined to this room until the Council completes its investigation..." he'd turned to the Hunters, who nodded, then back to Will...Sitting tensely on the edge of his seat...

"We'll need expert help in determining what we're dealing with here, Will...I'll call London and get our best...Including Willow and Tara..."

William had nodded...But stared at the Mears clone...

"What's wrong with her?...How did you screw her up this time...?"

"Don't be silly, Walthrop...She's perfect...Enhanced to the max...Thinking for herself again..."

She's back and thanks to ole Warren, better than ever...he'd leered.

"It's what you wanted when you brought me her neurogenetic material, right...?" he'd benignly smiled...Leaning back in his chair...

William had risen, shaking...Clone or no clone...But...He rubbed his temples...Giles then rising to calm him...

It was not to have you mucking about with her...Will had glared at Mears...He stared at Giles, tears starting to run...

"I wanted her back...God...I...Giles..." he'd pleaded... "I had to have her back...I had to try...After what we'd learned..."

"She remembers that too..." clone Mears had smiled.

Will had just stared at him...And, Giles even then had sensed...Had made his decision in that moment...

How could he possibly blame the poor fool...? He'd regained his life and his love, at least to some degree, after losing them a century ago, only to have her ripped away and that life made a living nightmare...If the roles had been reversed...

But now...Three months later...With Tara and Anya dead...Half the Hunters killed and a number of Watchers with them and nearly a hundred innocents as well...Willow still recovering from her wounds, but grimly determined to use any means and as much power, however dangerous, as necessary to destroy the magics-protected Nemesis...And all of them, the old gang and family who Nemesis clearly viewed as having betrayed her, the object of her wrath...He couldn't allow his compassion for the tormented Walthrop to cloud his judgement...Or interfere with his obligation to Buffy to destroy the thing resurrected in her form.

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...

"LA...?" Dawn stared at Buffy who was trying to avoid a direct glance at anyone...

"You're going to LA?...With him?..." she eyed a sheepish William...

The SITs with Xander on the sofa and several others lying on the living room rug and sitting in various chairs watched with rather intense amusement their trainer and role model's discomfort.

Willow glanced at Kennedy beside her...

"It's an errand of mercy, Dawn...Will wants to help Dru out..." Buffy began...

"Crap!..." Dawn choked... "Let Angel deal with her...He was her sire, right?" she eyed Will.

"Nibs..." he tried...

"We can't afford it..." Dawn noted solemnly...

LA is too...

Buffy's turn to rage a bit...After all the cash...Earned by me, I might note...I've blown on you these past two years, you selfish little...

"It's my money...We're splitting any costs the Council won't cover..."

"They may pay for the whole shebang..." William noted... "Giles is anxious to see Dru dealt with at last...And is well aware ole Broodo will never get down to it..."

Buffy smiled a bit at the Broodo...Damn, Dawn thought...So much for Angel stirring up a little interference here...

"This is important to me, Nibs..." Will eyed her...

"And to me..." Buffy eyed her...

"And actually is not for you to decide one way or the other..." she finished.

"Great..." Dawn glared, throwing her hands up...Xander sighed over to Willow...Who gave a slight shrug... "Good...Go...Have a great time...Marry him, why don't you?...Long as you're at it..."

Ok...Buffy smiled...

"If you'd really like me to...And if I can get him to ask me..."

William blinked...Ummn...?

Xander looked desperately at Willow...Do something...Quick!...his look said...

What?...Her look returned...

You started this...He tried telepathy...You and your will spell.

Xander, you can't stop Fate...And he's a good man, with a few minor problems...You know that.

The SITs were silent in shock...Even Kennedy had no quick comeback...

"Well..." Buffy looked round the room...

"I won't send the invitations out just yet...We'll need a little time for some courting...Will is a Victorian and they like long engagements...To get it right...Right, honey...?" she grinned at her shaken beau.

Ummn...he stared, but nodded...Yeah...Long engagements are nice...

"So...Does LA sound better now...? Or should I move up the wedding...?" she gave Dawn a smile, but with steel underneath.

"Do...Whatever you want...You always do..." Dawn furiously ran out of the living room and upstairs...

"Should I...?" Will looked at Buffy...

"Later...She'd stake you in her mood right now..." Buffy shook her head...Now looking at the others a little less sternly and more...C'mon guys...

"Isn't anyone happy for us...?" she looked round...

"Yes, of course, Buffy...Absolutely..." several SITs came over...

Willow came over...Putting out a hand at Will...

"Congratulations..." she grinned...And nodded at Buffy...Thanks, Wil...The Slayer's look beamed back.

"What the hell is your name, anyway...?" Willow eyed him...And Buffy...

Oh, God...Buffy thought...Damn it, damn it, damn it...She had to think of it first...

But Victorian gent to the rescue...He whispered in her ear...She beamed...

"Meet William Soames Walthrop, everybody...My feller..." she kissed him...

"You do realize she's serious...?" Willow eyed him as the SITs surrounded Buffy...Now an enthusiastic gaggle of wedding planners...

Serious...?

"Your Victorian sensibilities are off, Mr. Walthrop..." Willow grinned.

"You just got engaged to Ms. Buffy Anne Summers of Sunnydale, California..."

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part VIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part VIII...

Alternate Earth, deep within Mears' lair...

A terrible thing...Not to be welcome in your own "father-creator"'s home...Nemesis Buffy thought as she cautiously searched through rooms on in the multi-chambered lower levels far below the rather decrepit old house Warren Mears had taken as a front for his refuge...From her as much as from the Watchers and their Hunter Buffies...

No one in sight or hearing since the group she'd killed just off the hallway...And both her sight and hearing were rather extraordinary, even given her Slayer nature.

She was a bit nervous now...What if Warren had already found a way back into the Mears Corporation labs and fled Earth for his alternate world?...Killed Will and left her to face Willow and the Council all alone...

Would be just like the schmuck to pull something like that...She picked up the pace, smashing quickly through several secured doors into a series of rooms.

Nothing...

She paused and tried to calm herself...Concentrating on extending her enhanced senses as Giles had used to instruct her in the before time...Before he and the others had let her down so badly...

Giles...she sighed...It would have been so nice to see him again...All she'd had was that brief moment in the lab three months ago...Then he'd vamoosed without so much as a good-bye for his "daughter" and protege...Not even coming when she'd called him in London after her escape...Ready to forgive and forget, maybe...If he'd help her destroy those awful things he and the others had let Warren create.

Well, ok...Maybe it woulda been hard to let him off scot-free...But if he'd helped her, she'd've remembered only the good times when he was gone...And she'd've sent him off with a beautiful memory...But he'd sided with the rest...Against her...

All of them had let her down...Betrayed her...And now wanted her dead...All but William...

But hey, natch...She'd known William would stand by her, even if her acts might horrify his hard-rewon soul, poor sweet thing...Their existences were intertwined...Her past self had loved and tried to save him back in 1880, her soul'd searched for him for a century and won rebirth for his sake, as Buffy she'd spared him when he was in Spike's grip, murderously evil and unable to control himself.

So now...It was simply his turn...Even if she did feel her actions to date since her rebirth in Mears' lab were justifiable and perfectly understandable...

It's what good spouses do...Stand by each other in times of trouble.

But, if he were gone...?

She shook her head to drive the fear away...There were other Earths and other Williams if Warren was right...She'd find another, if she had to...And another place, a better place...Where she could be the Buffy she had once been...Loved by her friends...Safeguarding the world...

She just had to get to Mears and make him take her there...Before the raging Willow caught up with her with all the strength magic could give her...

And with luck, after forcing her bastard of a creator to reverse whatever he'd done to her that had caused her friends here to reject her...That had caused her to take such a different attitude towards what she once considered evil in general and the sanctity of human life in particular than she remembered she'd once held...

Not that she'd come to enjoy inflicting suffering...She hated to see her friends in pain...She simply found it easier now to accept that view of existence centered around one's self and one's needs that those creatures she'd fought in the past had embraced...And since that seemed to place her in the camp of Evil now with the gang, so be it...

But maybe she'd simply become more practical...Following what she now saw as her senseless leap into Death to stop Glory's portal from destroying the world...And the suffering she'd been put through...Jerked out of a Heaven or Limbo she now but vaguely remembered...Coming to a kind of horrifying fractured consciousness (or at least an awareness, one could hardly call the poor half-brained sisters...Conscious...) in the enslaved Hunters, then ripped out yet again to come to rest at last in her new home...

And that wasn't even getting into what she'd come to remember of her existence as Cicely Addams in 1880 both before and after her death two years ago...Loving and losing William, learning of the betrayal and scheming that had caused her to send him to his horrible Undeath...Dying in childbirth only months later after fruitless attempts to find and save him or destroy the thing he had become.

Go though all that and your attitude is bound to focus a bit more on looking out for number one...and perhaps, number one's significant other.

Though of course...There were things about her new self that did vaguely disturb her...In addition to Mears' little practical jokes with her occasional inability to vocally handle big words and other little "California blonde" quirks...In part, regarding killing...Humans...Especially males...Somehow her enhanced sexuality seemed bound up with it...In a way she didn't think had been quite true of her old self...Though one had to confess, even then she'd always gotten a strange charge, rather more like Faith's than she'd then cared to admit, out of her kills, that was probably part sexual in nature.

And then the other thing...The thing that had led to the rage that made her destroy the lab and what Hunters she could and flee before she'd planned to...If it hadn't been for that...Lack...She might have been able to control herself a little longer and stick to plan, maybe even have avoided the confrontation that ended in Tara's and Anya's deaths...Really an imbecile mistake on Mears' part.

Everyone needs to be able to cry...

Without it, all she had was rage...At least until William had let her know he was still hers...Would stand by her...Loved her still...

Stupid, stupid "father-creator"... Humanity saving "Biogenius"...What the hell had he been thinking...? Not to let her cry...

No doubt the moron had screwed a few things up in her neurogenetics...Maybe deliberately...

Well, minor things...Didn't really affect her essential Buffiness...And she'd have Warren do something about it, if he could, once she'd forced him to take her and Will to the other place...If he couldn't...She'd simply work round it once she was good ole Buffy again, back on the side of Light and with her friends...Maybe alternate Willow could help her once they got to know each other well enough...

Speaking of Willow...She checked the charms on her necklace and bracelets...All still cool to the touch...Willow wasn't in the vicinity yet...Probably still in London, maybe planning with Giles if he'd managed to calm her down...Poor kid...She could understand her rage of course...

If roles had been reversed and Will had been killed by Willow instead of Tara by herself...Well, maybe she'd have a little less rage and a leetle more deliberation in her revenge, but she'd still seek an even more terrible vengeance than she was already bent on...Unlike poor sweet Xander, she warmed at thinking of him...Xander...Who couldn't bring himself to hate her, whom she knew wanted to take her alive, help her if he could even now...She rather hoped she wouldn't meet up with him.

Hey...There's a good ole selfless Buffy attitude...she noted...See, she told herself...

Nice as it might have been to finally show him that she'd had sexual feelings for him, even in the before time...And She'd've sent him to his Anya with her complete forgiveness...Well...

Several of the charms faintly jingled as she felt them.

Thank God for the anti-magics charms Warren had carefully been amassing, several of which he'd given to her just before her escape...Believing that she was serious about her offer to assist him in his own little flight to freedom...The rest of which she'd taken as she'd smashed through the Mears Corp, leaving dear ole 'dad' to choke on her dust in his corporate prison and killing every "sister" she'd encountered at whatever stage of development she'd found them.

Without 'em, with all her tremendous, enhanced strength and speed, she'd have no chance against her wiccan friend or the more magically-gifted members of the Council.

A sound from deep within behind the far door...She raced over, throwing it open...And listened...Yeah...Someone back down that way...

It had to be Warren, still on this Earth...And Will had to be with him, alive and waiting for her to join him...It had to be...

There had to be some limits to God's savage cruelty.

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...The Summers' living room...

A just-returned-from-specialized-training-of-the-newest-SIT-arrivals, Chairman Giles drummed the fingers of his left hand ceaselessly on the coffee table as a sheepish Buffy tried desperately to look everywhere but at him...

William however met his frown head-on...For a moment or two...

All but Willow and Xander having left...To allow the "inner circle" to discuss the new situation which tonight's events had triggered...Even they taking a spot as safely out of the new Chairman's direct glare as possible.

Had Giles always been this intimidating or was it just since he'd assumed the Chairmanship (on the retirement of the severely wounded Quentin Travers)...? Willow hissed to Xander...

Always seemed preety intimidating to me...Xander noted in a whisper back.

"Buffy..." Giles finally sighed...

You do realize the enormity of what you are proposing to do...?

"Well...Sure...Giles..." she quickly smiled at him...

"I mean I know I've been a little weakened since we beat the First...And Dru is a very pow..."

"You know damned well what I'm talking about, girl!..." he shouted at her...She jumped back a little...But held Will's hand firmly...

Giles...she stared at him, pleading...Then at William who squeezed her hand...

Giles closed his eyes a moment and opened them...

"My apologies...But Buffy...And you, too, Will...You both must be aware that what you are considering is not something that you can decide on the whim of a moment...And that it may put both your immortal souls at peril..."

Buffy looked back at him steadily now...As did Will...

"This isn't a romantic whim, Giles...And I did not decide it on the spur of the moment...God..." she turned from him and looked at the wall...

"If you had any idea...How I...How long I..." she struggled to continue...

"I love him, Giles...He loves me...He would die for me in a moment, you know that as much as I do..."

"We need each other...And I would die for him...In a moment..." she eyed him.

Giles looked at her coolly...

"Dying for each other is all very romantic...But that is not the issue here...You are considering throwing away any remaining chance of retaining some fragments of a normal life and taking on a burden...Which is not your obligation to assume..." he glanced at Will.

"This is not pity...And William is not a burden..." Buffy now stared firmly at her new Chairman...

"And when you age...and he loses you...If no enemy ever causes his soul to be lost again..."

"I could lose my soul in a moment, Giles..." she interrupted... "Any one of us could...I won't let you use that argument..."

"As for aging..." she turned back to Will...And grinned a little...

"He'll look good in gray...And I oughta hold up a fair while..."

"Rupert..." Will looked at him... "When the time comes, I will go with her...Wherever that is..."

"I think allowing me to stake myself...Or having her do it, if she can...Or one of you lot...Is not a great deal to ask of the Powers That Be after what happened to me in 1880..."

Maybe we'll just take a last long stroll in the morning dawn...he smiled at her.

"But...I swear to you...I will not let her down, as long as I have a soul...And if I should lose that soul...And you lot can't help me...She'll deal with Spike..."

"Just as he will...If I ever lose mine..." Buffy finished.

She came over to the Watcher...Who now looked fixedly at the wall across from him...And then turned to her...

"What about children, Buffy...? Do you intend to deny yourself any chance...?"

"Angel had a son...We'll find a way, when we're ready...We're not the first couple with an infertility problem, Giles..." she put a hand on his arm...

"Giles...Please...Look, I don't give a damn what my dad would say...He forfeited any rights with me and Dawn years ago when he disappeared from our lives...But I care what you say...And Will cares...Please..." she pleaded...

"I've so little joy in my life these past years...And my poor Will has had so much stolen from him...Oh, please...Don't take this away from us...please..."

"Father..." she stared at him...Holding Will's hand tight in her own...

He looked up at her...Tears in his eyes, spilling over...

"Buffy...Buffy...I wanted so much more for you, dear..." he shook his head...

Well...He frowned at William...

"You'll be a Watcher...And I expect you'll try to do something useful with your existence...?"

"I'd like to try and finally finish my degree...Never had the chance in 1880..." Will smiled.

"Maybe do a bit of writing again..." he began... "Along with the demon-slaying and Doublemeat..."

"He's written the most wonderful poem, Giles!..." Buffy hastily interrupted... "You gotta read it..."

The Watcher glared...

Ummn...Maybe later...she looked round the room...Finally lighting on Willow who gave her a slight grin...Hang in there, kiddo, you're almost home...

Hmmn...Giles eyed Will...

"Did you ask her properly at least...?"

Actually...William smiled...She didn't give me a chance.

"But...If you'd allow me..." Kneeling besides Buffy...

Unnnh...Xander stared at Willow...

"Miss Summers..." Will began...

She dropped to her knees...Buffy?...he stared...

"This is a partnership, Mr. Walthrop..." she smiled at him.

Unnnnh...Xander put his head in his hands as Willow patted him...

Alternate Earth, Mears' lair...

"Hey, Warren..." Nemesis Buffy nodded at the Mears clone with William in the room where she'd cornered them...Two Hunters and several Katrinas around him, all heavily armed, tensed and awaited orders.

He put up a brief hand...

"Will..." she beamed at the sitting William, a Katrina and a Hunter on either side, who smiled at her but gave her a careful...Watch it, girl...look.

"I was getting so worried...You didn't check in..." she turned to Mears' clone with a glare...

"You better not have hurt him, Warren...Especially if you not the Warren I need..."

The other clones moved to battle posture...Nemesis tensed as well...The Mears clone gave them a quick command to stand down a bit...

"Lets not make this reunion a fight, Nemesis..." he smiled at her... "Will and I have just been doing a little business..."

"Buffy...Call me Buffy..." she insisted... "I am Buffy..."

"Buffy then..." he nodded, spreading his hands...

"You two and I...Or my original, if you prefer...Have a common problem and a common goal...And each of us holds a piece of the solution..."

He sat down and waved her to a seat...Across from where William and his guards sat...

So...? she looked at Mears from her seat...

"My original has the transfer coordinates and can set up and run the system in a couple of hours...William controls the Hunters at my corporation...You can deal with anything else the Council and your friends throw at us..."

"Ok..." she nodded...And smiled a gentle smile at the clone...

"Where is your original...?"

"Safe until our negotiations are settled, Summers..." he smiled back at her... "He doesn't especially like torture, you know..."

"And just in case you're thinking of it...I don't know where he is right now...Just that he's monitoring us and will let me know what he decides..."

"Let me sit by Will..." she insisted...

Hmmn...Not right now...the clone shook his head...

"Safer if William remains in our hands for the moment...And my prototype Hunters I should mention, don't have the Council's imbedded directives...So they could hurt him...Even before you could kill them..."

She eyed the two Hunters...Dumb clucks...Prototypes is right...Musta been practically from the first batch...At least the dopey-looking one on the right.

And yet...They could cry...All of 'em...She'd seen them cry...That day in the lab when she'd realized she couldn't...Not even for Mom...She'd made them cry...

"You could hurt our Will, girls...?" she asked...

"Only to protect Dr. Mears, Buffy N-1..." one replied... "Preservation of the creator is necessary to protect Humanity..."

"Hafta..." the one on the other side, nodded in agreement...She looked a bit wanly at Will... "Don't want to hurt Will...Unless hafta..."

Thanks, dear heart...Will patted the Hunter's hand...

"One of your first tries, Warren...?" Nemesis Buffy looked at him briefly...And then coldly at the smarter of the two...

"Call me Buffy, sis...No designation...I am Buffy..." the Hunter glanced at Warren who nodded.

"Sorry, Buffy..." the Hunter replied...

"But..." the other interrupted...A curiously puzzled look on her face...

"You're bad...You're dangerous...You hurt people and us...You are Buffy, too?..."

Out of the mouths of babes...William thought...But then, some of the early Hunters had shown surprising bursts of independent thinking before Mears and the dear Council had gotten the "bugs" worked out...

Much to his surprise...And the Mears clone's...Nemesis not only took the question in stride...She seemed, after a little initial shock at a Hunter's direct question, to be pleased at her "sister's" initiative.

"I'm not bad, sis...I just gotta protect myself...And William...People just gotta learn to let me be..."

Sometimes you hafta do bad things to be free...And to punish the people who hurt you...she kindly explained.

The Hunter stared...The other shook her head...

"Bad is bad...You caused harm, Buffy...You hurt people...You must not be allowed to hurt anyone else..."

Nemesis glared at her...Warren eyed them both...Ladies...he began...

"Save the philosophical debate for later...We have business to settle..."

"Tell her to turn off the self-righ...self-righty...(self-righteous, Buffy...William helped out...Thanks, she hastily beamed)...spiel, Warren...I've heard it..." Nemesis frowned... "I won't hear it played back from one of your personal sluts..."

And you might remember that I don't really need you, clone...she eyed him coldly...The left Hunter tensed, as did the right...But the right showed some agitation...

"Please stop using such harsh tones, Buffy..." the left Hunter sternly told her... "We will have to assume you mean to do harm...And you're upsetting Buffy H-2..."

"Please..." Buffy H-2 nodded...Looking anxiously at Will and her Hunter sister, then Mears...

"Sorry..." Nemesis smiled at her... "Don't be scared...We're just talking...Will and I are going to help Warren and his original...I won't hurt him, I promise..."

The Hunter visibly calmed...

"She reminds me of Dawn..." Nemesis grinned at Will... "Remember when she was little...The time Spike came to fight me and she found us outside...And started crying cause you...he...threatened to rip my throat out...?...And then you...Sorry..." she looked at his pensive face... "He...But it was you doing it, trying to reach us, I'm sure...Stopped and told her you were just kidding...It was a game we played..."

And then she smiled and asked if you were my new boyfriend...?

"And I...Spike...Whatever I was then...Said no, just a friend...But I would be very lucky to have Buffy as my girl..." Will eyed her gently.

And then he left...Buffy H-2 suddenly spoke up...They stared at her...

Yeah...Nemesis nodded at her...Then he left...Very good remembering, Buffy...

"I guess that musta been a phony memory..." Nemesis sighed to Will... "For both of us...And Dawn...Still, it was nice...You seemed so kind, so human...I almost liked you for a moment then..."

"What else do you remember, Buffy...?" she turned back to the Hunter...Who looked at her...

"We shouldn't try remembering...It's distracting...Wrong..." the other Hunter interrupted...

"I'm not talking to you, sis..." Nemesis glared again at her...Then smiled a little coolly at Will...

"Funny, huh...They all seem a little different...Kinda nice, really...Gives them a little something of their own...For example, this one's really getting on my nerves..."

"She can't help it, Buffy..." Will replied... "You know that..."

Guys...? the Warren clone shook his head... We got things to settle and do...Now...

Nemesis put a hand up...Sorry...

"I'm not mad at her...Really...It's just..." she smiled at clone Warren...

"I listen to her and I wish your real self were here right now..."

Tell me...she settled back in her seat...

"What's in this for you, clone...? I know it's silly to care what you think about all this, but I'm curious...You've got Warren's nature, as many brains, and you're certainly braver than he ever was...You must know we may kill you before we're done, especially if your original tries to cross us...As he probably will, if he goes true to form...Why go to so much risk for your original, that jackass...?"

Will smiled at her reprovingly...Buffy...Almost forgetting for a moment...Then a tear formed...Which he quickly wiped...

"Best not to upset our fair ladies, Buffy..." he nodded at the left Hunter who had tensed again...As the right Hunter now did, a bit more slowly...The Katrinas watching as well...

The Mears clone seemed unfazed by her question, however, and again signaled the Hunters and the other guards to stand down a bit...

"I do what's necessary to protect the Mears line, Buffy...My original is the essential irreplaceable element in our line...Protecting him is protecting me..."

And as to that...Can I tell him that we have a deal?...Or do we fight it out, now...?

"Will...?" she eyed William... "Can we trust him?..."

Certainly not...Will smiled back...But...Not much alternative...

"I agree..." she grinned.

"Ok, clone...Tell your daddy we have a deal...We'll arrange for him to get to the lab, he takes us to new Earth with him...He might need our protection, anyhow..."

"And you agree not to act against him on new Earth?..." the clone eyed her... "On your mother's soul?..."

You...Bastard...she stood up...Then stopped as the Hunters rose and the Katrinas came over...

"Sorry girls, no problem..." she smiled a bit and sat back down...

"Know me pretty well...Don't you Warren...?" she coldly glared at him...

"Ok...On my mother's soul...I won't hurt your original...Hell, I might need the sob for medical help or science advice when we get there...Besides...I'll be Buffy again there..."

And Buffy Summers doesn't kill defenseless human beings...Even evil ones...she smiled at William...

I will...I will be Buffy again...And loved...she thought.

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part IX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part IX...

Alternate Earth, London, Vice-Chairman Giles' office...

A quiet but firm knock at his office door brought the Vice-Chairman out of his reverie...Willow, he recognized and buzzed her in...

"Giles..." she eyed him...Calm and composed, but clearly having built up her energy reserves...A powerful aura about her, her eyes occasionally darkening...

"There's news...?" she asked politely.

No point and some risk...Most importantly to herself...In trying to deceive her...He nodded...

"William has definitely made contact with her again...We're convinced they're seeking Warren...And hoping to use his Gateway project..."

"Xander is setting things up at the Corporation...As we planned..."

I see...she nodded...

"I should go...By plane, if there's time..." she smiled, waving a hand at his quick attempt to dissuade her from an immediate teleport.

"Willow..." he paused... "I don't think it's wise of you to go..."

"I want to see this over, Rupert..." she frowned at him...Eyes blackening...Then she calmed a bit...

"Xander may need my help..."

"Nemesis is protected against you, Willow...Magics will not stop her..."

"I don't intend to use magics, Giles...At least, not on her...You're right I can't stop her that way..."she smiled faintly... "But nothing says I can't use magics on myself...And smash her pretty little super-bitch face in when I get my hands on her..."

"Willow...You've promised to refrain from this kind of revenge..." he looked firmly in her face.

"You promised you'd get her...You and good ole William..." she glared back...And looked away...

"And now...He's gone over to her...And you...?" she turned to face him... "Where do you stand, Rupert...?"

"Nemesis must be destroyed...I have no reservations about that..." he replied... "But I do not want to lose you too..."

"For good ole Buf's sake...?" she eyed him coldly...

"For my dear Willow's sake..." he returned the stare... "My other...Daughter..."

She calmed, Willow in her eyes for a moment...But the hardness and the black returned immediately...

"Then get her, Giles...Get her...Or I will...Whatever I have to do...Whoever I have to bargain with..."

"Please..." she was Willow again... "End this, Giles...For Buffy's sake...and mine..."

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...next morning in the Summers' kitchen...

Buffy eyed the kitchen clock...6:25 am...Dawn wouldn't be stirring for another hour...Willow and the SITs not already housed elsewhere by Giles and the reorganized Council not likely to rise for an hour after that...

But this wasn't a morning she could sleep in...If she had slept at all...Little hard to remember...She stifled a giggle...God...Sitting up till a reluctant William made his goodbyes and even Willow called it quits...Then slipping out to fetch William back as he strolled to Xander's at 2 am...Over his increasingly feeble protests...

Hell...I just got engaged...Did they all think I was gonna shake his hand, peck his cheek, and send him off to dreamland...?

Well, maybe the off to Dreamland part...she grinned, biting a lip.

And I thought he was good without soul...

"I should go, love...Get over to Xander's while I can..." William unfolded his arms and straightened a bit from where he'd been trying to nonchalantly lean against the kitchen wall, awaiting the wrath of sis-in-law, soon to be...

Before anyone comes down and realizes I never really left...he did not say.

"No..." Buffy replied...Smoothing her suit... "Dawn has to face up to this, Will...Whether she likes it or not..."

"May be...But not in a morning's half an hour, mostly taken up with your trying to make her eat breakfast..."

"Who said it would be half an hour?...You're coming with us...I'm not leaving you locked up in Xander's apartment or our basement...Not today of all days..."

Time the world met my fiancee...she beamed.

Buffy...? He stared...

Yeah?...she stared back...

"Daylight still gives William a rather intense tan, girl..."

Mmmn...She nodded slowly, thinking...But with a slight something in her eye...Which he caught...

Hmmn..

"Well..." she looked in a chrome hinge on the refrigerator, licking down a few stray hairs, giving her makeup a quick once-over...Not bad, considering only an hour's sleep at best, she thought, beaming again at her intended... "I guess we could either...Wrap you up in some sheets and coats and run you to the car..."

Or...You could read this...she pulled a sheet from her suit pocket...He took it and stared at the lettering...

"Greek to me..." he eyed her...

And as a former Cambridge scholarship student...he grinned.

"I would say this is a spell...Something to do with...My God..." he suddenly gasped...

"It's only temporary...Willow says it should last about two hours at a time under full sunlight..." Buffy hastily noted...

But it should let you travel outside a bit...she looked at him.

"Engagement present, Honey...With Willow's compliments..." she smiled...Then looked a hair nervous...He was still just staring at it...

"Will...? Is it ok...?" she asked anxiously...

He twisted round to stare at the clock...6:30...

"Get your coat...Come on..." he hissed...Smoothing the sheet out on the kitchen counter and beginning to read...

"Hurry!..." he looked up at her...

What?...she stared...Oh!...

Geesh...How could I not...

"I don't need a coat...Hurry..." she urged him as he read...Glancing outside at the sky...

Ok...He nodded...Folding the sheet...Moving to the kitchen porch door...

Wait!...she hissed...Coming over...

"Slowly, honey...lets not take any..." she began... "Will!..."As he dragged her out the door...

To greet his first sunrise in 122 years...

Standing side-by-side on the porch, they stared out at the pink and gold clouds...The sliver of white rising up...He put a hand out which she grabbed...Squeezing...

He shook his head...

"It's...I..." he watched the white move up, becoming a white and gold ball...

Not too long right at it...she noted...UV and all...And you're still kinda sensitive...

"Right..." he nodded...Still staring...

Will...Please...she finally breathed...

"It's...Like you..." he suddenly turned to her... "All gold...Light...Warm...A little piece of heaven..."

No wonder I ran to you...he grinned suddenly...The ole song had it right...

"You are my sunshine..."

Alternate Earth, a secret underground chamber not far from the grounds of the Mears Corporation laboratory complex...

Dr. Warren Mears, acclaimed benefactor of Humanity...Secret savior of the same, at least by his own estimation...Sat in a chair, pondering his next move...Weary lines of young, but stress-filled middle-age on his face, a slight paunch, and a harassed, nervous look pronounced him to be the one and only original...At least on this Earth.

So near his goal...Literally as well as figuratively, considering his current location...Yet...What to do...?

He couldn't risk charging into the labs with his few Hunters and Katrinas, even if he could risk summoning them all to him here...The Council's Hunters would take him in a few minutes.

But to risk a deal with Nemesis...Perhaps the one creature on Earth who wanted him dead more than his Council-assigned "protectors" Walthrop and Giles...

And not just dead by any means...Dead by her own unique means...Courtesy his skill and genius...

Still, she wanted out of this world as desperately as he did...And, in the course of the negotiations with his clone which he'd been carefully monitoring, had sworn to leave him unharmed on new Earth...Sworn on her Mom's soul...A pledge he knew her well enough to believe she would keep...

As long as she felt she could...

Being, like her "father-creator"...And to some extent, thanks to him...Of a "practical" bent of mind and character.

And he'd already tried a deal with her...When she'd made good her escape from the lab "nursery" after offering his clone stand-in her assistance in getting him out...Away from the place that had become a prison to him, hobbling his genius...In exchange for his advice and skilled help both in effecting their joint break-out and in restoring all that was lacking in her new self that had caused her friends to turn from her.

He paused in his deliberations long enough for a quick sneer...God...All he'd given her and here she was, demanding to be her old self...To be regressed back to dear ole Buffy the world's hand-holder...

Is that gratitude?...Well, someday perhaps she'd learn to appreciate his improvements to her nature...Though sadly, it seemed she was never likely to properly appreciate him as he'd hoped his manipulations would lead her to do...But, there'd been no way to more or less fully restore her mind without restoring the memories within it...Memories that had included those regarding a certain resouled vampire and former poet.

Though it seemed rather unfair of her to hold such a harsh opinion of her dear ole Warren...

Well, "how sharper than a serpent's tooth is an ungrateful child..."

But, back to the practical...And the decision at hand...Only Walthrop could get him past the Hunters...And only Nemesis could fight them and whatever else the Council might throw at him...

And it was always possible that with dear Willow gunning for her lover's killer as well, that he might be able to slip out on his own in the confusion...If he chose to take the risk of proceeding to new Earth alone...

Indeed, if someone were to let it get out to Miss Rosenberg that the fiendishly twisted version of her ole pal who murdered her poor Tara was about to skip Earth, that someone might even have time to get one or more of his own Hunters or Katrinas into the lab and to new Earth with him...Providing the protection he might well require...Protection his new "allies" might not be as enthusiastic in dispensing.

He sent a coded message out via scrambled microwave...Direct to a receiver implanted in his clone's auditory system...

Terms accepted...Tentatively...

Poor Nemy...he involuntarily thought...Chasing a life she could never hope to regain...Even if there were no living Buffy in the world they'd be headed for...

At least, according to the last successful probe he'd made...Over a year and a half ago...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part X...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part X...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...That evening...The restored Bronze...

"i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

not fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)..." [ee cummings]

Buffy looked up at William...

Ummn...

"Buffy...It's...Beautiful..." he stared at her...

"You wrote that...?"

For me...? he beamed...

Willow sitting over by the wall, Kennedy standing next to her, looked noncommitally at Buffy...Poking Kennedy silent when the potential Slayer seemed about to speak...

Xander likewise looking over, as he sat beside Willow with several SITs in careful attendance...Their sweet Alexander...Not that Willow wouldn't look after him...But after all...Just part of their duty as Slayers-in-Training...Duty...And pleasure...

Dawn, somewhat grimly nursing her Shirley Temple in a dark booth like Ernest Hemingway on a bender, under Clem's and Giles' watchful supervision...Graciously having agreed to surrender and attend what amounted to...sigh...The Walthrops' engagement...Re-engagement, Buffy had noted, grinning at a sheepish...Ok, ok I get it...Willow...Party...

"It...Ummn...It's just how I feel..." Buffy began...

Giles now looking over at Buffy as well...Hmmn...Rather familiar that poem...

The new fiancee looked at her intended...Not a whit of poet's jealousy in his face...Just joy...Two poets in the family...No doubt about it...We are soulmates...he beamed at her...

Ummn...Yeah...

"It's...Wonderful..." he shook his head at the sheet in his face...Reading it carefully aloud again...

And you wrote it...For me...?

"No one's ever thought of writing a poem...For me..." he stared at it...

She looked to Willow...Who rolled her eyes...Look at that face, Buf...her expression saying...

She looked back at Will's proudly happy face...

"Yes, William..." Buffy solemnly nodded... "I did..."

Thank you, Spike...For keeping him mostly out of the poet's loop for the past century...I owe you...she thought...

"She wrote that...?" Xander hissed to Willow...

"With a leetle help from a guy named ee cummings..." Willow hissed back...

Hell, I'm impressed Buf read him...she thought...

"You do need to capitalize these i's and add some periods, dear..." Will gently noted...

Alternate Earth, original Mears' secret underground chamber near Mears Corp...

Do or die time approaching...the famed Dr. Mears thought...Emphasis likely to be on the "die", with Nemy on her way...

Still...She hadn't killed him when she'd had the chance...At least not the hims he'd had running Mears Corp for the past nine months ever since he'd managed to slip the Council's tight security while good ole William and Giles were presenting Hunters to the Council in England...

Not even the day she'd revealed the depth of her hatred for him and her "sisters" and fled the security of the corporation labs...

And she did need him...If she was to escape the forces gathering against her...However much she might desire to flay the flesh from his original bones...

Ungrateful little...After all he'd done for her...And her "sisters"...Why the little bitch'd still be six feet under if he hadn't agreed to make the try when Walthrop had brought her neurogenetic material to him in desperation a few weeks after her death...Not to mention the peril the world had been saved from, thanks to his Hunters...

And it hadn't been like he'd owed her a favor, oh no...After what she'd put him through with Kat over the April clones when she was still just plain ole Slayer Buffy...Exposing his little sex clone side business just when he was ready to dispose of the lot and go respectable as Dr. Warren Mears, Benefactor of Humanity, courtesy his cloned organs...

Geesh...To show so little feeling, such ingratitude...Well, ok...It had been his intention to improve Miss Summers somewhat along those lines...Junk to what extent he could, that troublesome conscience of hers while retaining most of her higher brain functions...The Hunters after all had been amusing enough, a real joke on her, but even he'd found them rather tiresome as companions...And the damned Council'd seen to it that he couldn't even monkey around with their brains a bit once the basic pattern had been established...

Dumb and noble...Geesh...What a combination...Even if it was possible to bypass their inhibitions on sex with a little skillful manipulation... "Why no, this isn't restricted physical contact, Buffy...You're just providing physical therapy..." "Oh...Ok..." Even certain members of the not-always-so-high-and-proper Council had, he knew, taken advantage of such loopholes with their Hunters when Walthrop and Giles were not on hand to watch over them...

But Humanity's greatest genius deserved a more worthy mate...

Yeah, after making good his escape thanks to his clone impersonators, he'd tried to create the perfect Buffy, at least to his notion of perfection...But he hadn't counted on her resisting his attempts to build in enhanced regard for him, her "father-creator"...

He hadn't been expecting...Cicely...

Alternate Earth...Clone Mears' lair...

"So...Buffy..." clone Warren eyed Nemesis as they prepared to head out of the room where they'd reached a successful conclusion to their negotiations...William carefully tucked in among several Katrinas and the prototype Hunters, now three in number...The clone with two Katrinas protecting him...Nemesis watched by her own pair of Kats...

"You understand that William will be destroyed if you so much as take one step out of line?...And that killing me, if you should choose to try, will get you nothing?..."

"You don't interest me, clone..." she cocked her head at him, sneering a bit...

"But...If Will is so much as scratched...You'll wish you'd never been pulled out of your hatching tank..." she smiled gently at him...

And as for your original...

"Buffy..." the clone noted his guards...Now tensing...

Ok...she smiled...

"No problem, girls...I'll be good...You just see that my Will is ok..."

The two Hunters nodded slightly...The Katrinas concerned only for Mears, of course...

"Lets get moving..." clone Mears looked at the Katrina in front who opened a concealed tunnel door in the rear of the room...

"Almost home free, Will...Hang in there..." Nemesis called over to him, almost gaily...he noted...

God...Let this be the right thing to do...he sighed to himself, nodding back at her and following the lead of his guards into the tunnel...

Let this new Earth need her...Give her a place where she can be my Buffy again...

Alternate Earth, the outer offices of the Mears Corporation, aboveground from the main labs...

A strained-looking Xander stood by a large table with phones, looking across the main foyer to several vans parked outside...Council members and staff, with Hunters and a few Katrinas scurrying about, trying to remove what could be taken...Two Hunters at his side, both with rather concerned expressions as they watched him and scanned the area, awaiting instructions...

"Xander..." the more advanced of the two eyed him... "You look awfully tired..."

Yeah...the other nodded...Both quickly scanning the large hallway and foyer for any potential threats...

"I'm fine, thanks Buffy..." Xander nodded to them...

"Anya should make you..." the less advanced one began and halted in mid-sentence...

Oh...Anya is gone...she paused...

"Isn't she...?"

Xander stared at her...God...he closed his eyes a moment...

This is the worst of it...These times...When one of them slips outside the box just a little...And almost...For a second...

"Buffy H-7..." the more advanced one broke in...Almost as tactfully as Buffy might've...At times... Xander thought... "This talk hurts Xander..."

Oh...Buffy H-7 looked at him...Sorry...she bit her lip...

"No..." he hastily shook his head... "It's ok..."

I know you don't mean any harm, Buffy...

"I don't like to see you sad, Xander..." she replied...

I know...Thanks...he smiled at her...And the other, now giving him a half-smile...My sis, whatya gonna do?...look that nearly shattered him...

He had to shoo them away...Just for a moment...Else, he'd never hold up...

And he had to hold up...Just a little longer...Until it was over and he'd helped to destroy the worst of what they'd allowed Mears to create...And made it difficult, if not impossible for anyone to try to do it again...

"Buffy...?" they looked at him...Yes, Xander...Beloved brother, their looks saying "Both of you, I mean...Could you check out the lab corridors, quickly...Together?"

They nodded eagerly and left...Utterly content...

He watched them leave...A junior Council member, Observer status, came over...Demanding more time...Valuable data to be retrieved yet...The computer links to London have been shut down...A slightly accusing tone in his voice at the end...

"The links are shut down on Vice-Chairman Giles' order...We're pulling out in thirty minutes...And the materials collected here are under my supervision and Vice-Chairman Giles..." Xander eyed the Observer grimly...

And will be destroyed at the first opportunity...Before the Council gets its hands on anything they could use...he thought...

"Unless you'd care to argue with the Slayers..." he finished...Staring the man down...

The Observer looked out the main glass doors to the three vans outside...All guarded by Hunters...Who were politely removing all materials carried outside from any remaining Council members and corporate staff...Politely, but insistently...

"What is going on here...? The Council ordered all materials possible transferred to London..." he tried...

"All materials...Possible...Will be transferred..." Xander noted quietly... "Under the Vice-Chairman's and my supervision...Only..."

The Observer glared but was silent...Xander eyed him thoughtfully as he turned on his heel and headed for the doors...

So...he thought...The Council suspected we'd try this...Good thing Giles centralized all the computer links under his authority...Mears rather eagerly assisting, anxious as he'd been to keep the Council from getting anything that would terminate his value to them...

He whipped out a cell phone and one of the Hunters outside answered...She came away from the vans and reached the doors just in time to grab the Observer...

Several staff and Council personnel eyed them...Looking at each other...

The Hunter gently patted the Observer down and removed a concealed phone...Leading him back to Xander...

"Here, Xander ..." she handed the phone, holding the hapless Observer...

"I'm a member of the Council..." the man began, trying to inject some sternness into his voice as the Hunter held him firmly in her grip...

"No communications unless authorized by me or the Vice-Chairman..." Xander glared... "We're under martial law here for the duration...And you...Are under arrest...Take him to the third van, Buffy and keep him there..."

She nodded and dragged him along, gently...

"Anyone else with complaints?..." he called in a loud voice, looking round the office and foyer...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XI...

Alternate Earth...Underground lair of original Warren near the Mears Corporation labs...

His guests were on their way, now in the main tunnel, a Katrina clone informed the weary and rather wary-looking man seated viewing notes from his desk computer...He nodded and requested she have the outer chamber guards pull back to the immediate area around his office...

Not that they'd stand much chance against his Nemesis...Still they might slow her down if she decided not to go through with the deal as arranged...And she might, even if it meant screwing her hopes of making a permanent escape...Just for the chance to get a crack at him...The one and only original...She hated him enough, he knew...

Of course she'd even fooled him at first, Dr. Mears reflected, with a papa's pride at his wayward but clever daughter's skill...Made him...Via the info provided by his clone impersonator...Believe his efforts at remaking Buffy Summers into his ideal mate were succeeding...Just as she'd fooled the Council staff at the Corporation, with a little guidance from his clone of course, into believing for a good while that she was just another Hunter...

But then, she'd needed time to get a handle on the situation...Figure out who she was and just what the hell had happened to her...Cope with the resurfacing memories...And if his attempts to induce Warren-focused admiration and love had failed, she had had a healthy fear of dear ole "Dad's" abilities...At least until she fully understood her own...

So she'd wisely...Especially considering she'd matured at three months...Played her cards close to her blouse...Docilely following "father-creator's" instructions for concealing her differences from her sisters...Displaying appropriate regard for dear "Dad" in spite of her mounting rage at him...Learning all she could about her surroundings and the changed world outside...And waiting with laudable patience for her moment...Until she'd seen William again...And had a very bad day...

Which understandably had been a leetle too much even for her...Sadly for that Tara and that Anya as well...

Naturally she'd caught on to the clone Warren's true nature fairly quickly during her final maturation and education cycles Mears thought proudly...Though she'd wisely kept her awareness to herself...Until her escape...

But hell, even that fool Walthrop had eventually fingered him...It was only that Buffy's pet resouled vampire hated to visit the Corporation for more than the briefest of minimal visits that he hadn't detected him sooner...

Though, irritating as it might be not to have the original Mears within choking range, that had not been what had set her off...Nor even seeing Walthrop...And Giles...For the first time since rebirth...

No, her premature little outburst had been due solely to the generous heart of Dr. Warren Mears...Who'd kindly enabled the Hunter clones to remember enough of their past to remember dear Mrs. Summers as part of their basic profile...

And that day, the day Walthrop and Giles had visited the Corporation had become rather hectic after the two Council supervisors had held his clone under confinement for several hours while they dug though the files on Nemy's creation, maturation, and education/training...So that against normal routine, she'd still been on hand in the training room when the latest batch of developing Hunters went through what passed for a brief review of their happy days with Mommie...Just a little memory jogging to keep them emotionally stable and better able to brush off the occasional troublesome memory bit floating up in the future...

Ending with a mildly troubling glance at Joyce's demise...Cushioned and quick...But still enough to bring a few tears to the Buffies' eyes...A perfectly normal result of a healthy and gentle exposure to mild emotional memory stress...But a bit of the educational cycle that had been deliberately omitted...At some cost in scheming and schedule manipulation... from Nemy's maturation, as he'd felt it not only unnecessary, but likely to stir up emotions he'd gone to some effort to repress...

He had the video tape of the scene...That fool Jonathan, his chief technician, had at least had the sense to keep monitoring the training room and the maturing clones and he'd had a secret, direct feed running to both his office here and the lair he'd abandoned to his other clone a short time ago when he'd realized Nemesis and Walthrop were not fooled by the first imposter...

Dear ole "Dad" might be absent...But he'd kept a close eye on his girl...

Not that he needed to see that tape to remember...When Nemesis had seen the shots of Joyce, the hospital, the funeral...All telescoped into a few brief scenes on large-screen TV...

And seen her sisters...The Hunters...Dim as they were...Crying...For their Mom...And what they briefly, vaguely sensed was the life they'd lost...While a soothing voice-over provided bland comfort... "Your Mom is safe in Heaven with the angels, now..." that sort of crap...

And suddenly, horrifyingly realized...She couldn't...Not a tear...No matter how much she tried, how much she desperately needed to...

All the others could...She had been able to...In the before time, she knew that...But not now...They'd taken it away from her...Warren...And the "friends" who'd let him do this to her...

Along with God knew what else...

All her careful calculation had vanished in a moment of hideous rage...Her angry howl overcoming even the piteous cries of the slaughtered Hunters...Childlike and innocent, most of them still looking enough like children to drive even the watching Mears to tears...

They were all dead, fourteen of them, before Jonathan in his control room could even hit the alarm at his fingertips...And before Giles and Will could get out of the office where they'd been reviewing the Nemesis data with clone Warren, still passing for the real thing, though they'd now ferreted him out...Standing in mute horror in the doorway, staring at the carnage in dumb shock...The Vice-Chairman coming to himself just enough to call for the complex to be sealed off as Will desperately staggered through the room, looking for any who'd survived...Begging them...and Nemesis...for forgiveness...

And Nemy gone, fled into the main labs destroying everything she could get her little hands on...Killing or smashing anyone or thing that got in her way...She hadn't known her own strength til then...

But she knew it now...

Though she'd had enough presence of mind to grab all the magics-protection she could, racing through the rooms...And already had what clone Warren had passed to her after she'd expressed willingness to assist him in escaping the Corporation and the Council's thumb...

Help dear ole "Dad" slip out of his unjust confinement...? Why certainly...Just so long as he'd promise they'd be together...So she could take proper care of him...She'd quietly told the clone in a hasty private conference, snatched in an unsupervised moment in the main lab a few days earlier, with a sincere and innocent beam...

But all that was out the window... As had been the Warren clone of that day when she'd smashed into the conference room where he sat, under reasonable but insufficient protection...Giving him just a second's hasty offer to let him reveal the whereabouts of the real Mears...Which she'd expected him to decline in any case...

He had that on video as well...Though, despite the poor fellow's miraculous survival, it was one video he preferred not to repeat view...Useful info as it had provided...

He now knew just how deep his "daughter's" feelings for him were...

It wasn't likely that they could have held her in the corporation complex that day for long, anyhow, with the security they'd had on hand..But after she'd calmed a bit, hiding in the vast lower lab tunnel network Nemy had made use of her other talents to make a surprisingly quiet getaway...

She'd slipped through the air vent system to reach the control center...Hiding just inside the vent duct until the staff on hand had been conscripted away to assist in the hunt for her...Leaving only one behind to continue monitoring the hallways...

A dear old friend from the "before time..."

Opening the vent grating and slipping up behind him so silently that she'd grabbed and pinned him before he'd had the slightest idea she was there...

Sh...she'd gently told him...I don't want to hurt you, Jonathan...You're a friend of mine...I remember...

"I'm sorry I got upset...I didn't mean to..." she'd eyed him, turning him around to face her...

"Buffy...Please..." he'd gasped...

(Damned moron, Mears thought, watching the security video later...You deserved this...If you'd been on your toes...)

"Jonathan..." Nemesis had beamed...Quickly and quietly ripping out much of the alarm controls...And shorting out what she could of the master electrical system...The main lab lights faded out and emergency lights came on...Shouts throughout the complex could be heard...

"You're a good man...You know what Warren did to me...What they're going to do to me...You don't want to see me hurt?..."

"No..." he gasped...She released him gently...And to his surprise, gave him a gentle hug...

"It's so good to talk to you again...My umbrella man..." she grinned, pulling back...

See...she eyed him...I remember...I am Buffy...she noted...Biting her lips as she stared at him...

"I knew you wouldn't want to hurt me...Any more..." she eyed him...

"You'll help me...My sweet Jonathan...?" she beamed again...Kissing him gently...and dragging him to the control room door...

"Guess we better get going, huh?..." she turned away to look down the lab corridor...

Ummn...Jonathan struggled to catch his breath...And sanity...

Yeah...He weakly nodded...

She looked at him, waiting...Well?...

"That way..." he pointed feebly... "It's not monitored past the main doors..."

Cool...she grinned...

"I knew you'd come though for me, Jonathan..." she'd led him carefully down the hall...

Mears hadn't had the pleasure of seeing Jonathan's fate on camera...Nemy had smashed what units were running on emergency power in the hallways and the final act had occurred off the complex grounds...But he could make a preety fair guess...As had Giles and Will when they'd found his corpse...

He'd guided her, clamped firmly in her gentle vise grip to a poorly secured emergency exit...And despite his feeble protests had been persuaded to continue on with her until they'd reached the safety of some woods overlooking a major interstate...

Where she'd stopped to thank her benefactor...Properly...Before parting from him...In a small clearing...

"Oh..." she moaned...Squeezing him tight now...Her face crimsoning...A look of divine ecstasy...

His own ecstatic state rapidly approaching hers...Accompanied by a kind of almost religious awe...At her and at the incredible luck that he should be the one available...

Buffy Summers' first...In her new form...

But...Suddenly he realized...A little too tight...

"Buf..fy..." he gasped...

Can't breat..

No?...she whispered...Stroking his hair with one hand, but tightening her hold with the other...

Bu..Buf...he choked...

"I'm sorry..." she sighed... "Jonathan...I really liked you...You were sweet...I remember you tried to be good..."

And you're a fine lover...Don't ever let them tell you different...

"Wherever your soul winds up..."

He dropped to the ground...Dead...

"You helped them..." she stared at him a moment... "Jonathan...You shouldn't have done that..."

But I forgive you...My sweet Jonathan...she blew him a last kiss and headed for the interstate...Where she'd found a very nice man who'd kindly given her a ride into LA...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XII...

Alternate Earth, Mears' underground chamber near the Mears Corporation labs...

It was about as close to committing suicide as he'd ever come...Mears realized as he sat at his desk, calling up the last of the files he'd need to activate the Gateway transit link...Cutting a deal with Nemesis...Without a clone intermediary as a buffer from her wrath, that is...

But there was no alternative...Unless he wanted to continue trying to dodge the Council and its remaining devoted Hunters...And if Walthrop and Nemesis could find one of his lairs so easily...The others were sure to bring him to heel fairly soon...

And Nemesis sincerely wanted his help, he knew...As sincerely as she wanted to be Buffy again...Somewhere...

And Buffy did not kill humans...Generally...Even those she hated...Nemesis knew that, remembered it...Would try, at least, to live up to it...

At least...Would try on new Earth...

So long as new Earth was what he'd...Or rather his clone, in their earlier talks, before she'd escaped...Promised it to be...A Buffy-less yet reasonably safe world, much like their own, minus the demon raids at least up to the last year and a half ago when he'd been able to make his last probe...How'd they ever manage to avoid that?...Where a new Buffy, dropped by some chance from another world, was likely to be made very welcome by her alternate friends...If she could convince them she was Buffy enough...

Course she might choose to "accidently" eliminate him once he'd got them through...But, in the final negotiations with his clone, before she and Walthrop had set out with the phony Mears to meet him, she'd again expressed a desire to be "repaired"...At least, have him restore what he'd taken from her...

Hmmn...Well, as long as he could keep stringing her along with the prospect of fully regaining her old self...He'd have a chance...And once he got his footing on new Earth...Formed his own alliances with whatever, whoever was on hand...

Just must keep her convinced he could work the miracle she wanted...

Geesh...The little fool...Wanting to regress like that...Back to good ole Buffy...The one she remembered as the one everyone had loved...After all the effort he'd made to improve her...

Well, she didn't want to give up the enhanced strength and agility of course...At least she'd had that much sense...And even she couldn't deny that that gift from "Dad" had been the reason for her survival to date...After her little get-together with the ole gang had gone so badly...

She'd called them that very night from LA...Giles in London, Xander, Willow, and Dawn in Sunnydale...Uncertain...Maybe sincerely hoping some of them hadn't acquiesced to Mears' schemes...Asking for some or all of them to meet with her before dawn that morning at a place she felt was safe...Apologetic, though insistent that her actions had been understandable...Telling them she still loved them all, however perturbed the Hunters and the whole cloning thing had made her...She'd even politely asked about the Mears clone's injuries, pointing out that she could have easily finished the job with "Warren" then and there...

Sincere, perhaps, in her expressed wish there might yet be a way, honestly hoping there was a chance for her to still be Buffy...For the ones who hadn't betrayed her at least...

And, seeking to find a way to take her without more pain and violence, the gang had agreed to try and meet with her...Giles strongly urging against it, Will supporting him...And yet, clearly hoping something could still be done...While the others, especially poor Xander and Tara, desperate to make amends, seeking to find some way to excuse her actions and to hope that Buffy, at least something of the real Buffy, was alive in her...And that there was at last a chance to truly bring her back...

It was then, watching Will's tormented face, even as he argued for Nemesis' destruction, that Willow, and Xander, had first begun to wonder...Likewise Giles, in London, already having his own concerns about him, having come to know and love his "son-in-law" of sorts almost as well as he'd known and loved his Slayer "daughter"...But events had quickly left little time for such things...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...The morning after the "engagement" party...The new Magic Box...

"If one is to undertake the task of Watching, particularly at the Hellmouth Gate itself, William...However reduced in threat it may currently be..." Giles solemnly noted... "One must be prepared to make the service of the Slayer the focus of one's existence..."

William nodded dutifully at his Chairman...Giving strict attention, not the slightest sign of sarcasm or boredom...Very suitably attired in his Randy suit, pressed with care by his loving fiancee the night previous...

Willow, new half-partner in the Box, watching as she tended to the morning traffic, did her womanful best to repress giggles...

While Giles did his best to maintain a calm, professional attitude with the thing from beyond the grave that was likely condemning his daughter-in-spirit, to a life of horror and miserable suffering...

After all, William had been, he had to admit to himself, in many ways, an excellent candidate for the post of Hellmouth Watcher...And seemed even more determined than ever to prove himself a worthy...Soul...

Soul...Yes, one must grant him that...And he has been ready to die for her...Even to take on a position in that earthly equivalent of Hell, Doublemeat Palace, to assist her...

And one couldn't help but feel a little pride...Only a worthy son of England could've held on to his Humanity so well...Even soulless Spike had shown an amazing capacity for something like human feeling...And the silly chip had been enough to bring him back far enough to feel a love for Buffy, that against all that was known of demonic existence, had proven true and sincere...Even as he'd made excellent use of his Drusilla-given skills in his efforts to assist her...Only an Englishman would've shown that kind of stout-hearted fortitude and sensibly practical behavior...

And his remorse at Spike's acts, though properly tempered by an awareness that he, himself, had been an innocent victim as well, was likewise true and deep...As his desire to assist poor Drusilla, even at the risk of his new-won existence...And Buffy's annoyance...Bore out...

Rather interesting if one considered that it had taken Angel a full century of souled existence to develop to the point of reaching out to Humanity, doing more than displaying vague and occasional sighs of remorse for his demon's acts...And taking real steps towards making amends...

But not fair to make such comparisons...Different circumstances...

No, far better to compare souled Angel's total irresponsibility in the past two years towards poor Dawn and resurrected Buffy against demon...Demon...Spike's desperate efforts to protect Dawn and help Buffy...Ending in his successful quest to regain his soul...

Under a certain light, one...Might... Be inclined to find such behavior somewhat ...Noble...Worthy of a certain degree of...

Though surely no more than his Buffy deserved...

And when one considered that she might well have wound up with the repulsive Mr. Parker...Or even...God help us...Warren Mears, had the nasty little thing had the brains to use his genius for honest profit...And shown up on her doorstep at the right moment during her post-resurrection woes...

Well, no, never that, no matter how desperately strapped she might have been...Thank God, she'd've starved to death, or spent her life at Doublemeat first...

Walthrop?...Yes, that was his name...Hmmn, must look his human records up...Had fought courageously for her both by her side and alone, hell, for her even against her if Buffy's tale of the time Spike had saved her from Warren's little murder framing scheme was true and not a hallucination...

And he still hoped to complete his rather long-delayed academic career and assist Buffy in completing hers...Still held literary aspirations...And seemed a good intellectual influence on her, considering her poetry reading of the night before...

Yes, there could be worse candidates for her hand...he thought...Eyeing William's earnest face, almost the face of a boy...A boy who after all, had earned his second chance at life...The hardest way imaginable...

Well...Best to forge ahead...And leave it all in the hands of the Powers That Be...And the Greatest Slayer of All Time...

"Your upcoming trip to Los Angeles should offer an excellent chance to take some distanced readings of the Hellmouth's reduced energy output since the First was defeated...As well as to better coordinate the new Council's activities with Angel's group... " he continued...Perhaps a tad more warmth now in the new Chairman's voice...Which Willow, still watching them as she could, caught...Why, Giles...You ole softy...she grinned to herself...

Dear ole "Father"...Well, Buf actually had called him that the previous evening...Cutting the future "son-in-law" a break...And I am there...she thought...

William and then Giles looked at her as she stood staring a moment...Oops...

"Just wanted to make sure that daylight spell hadn't shown any side effects...You were ok coming over this morning?..." she asked Will hastily... "Don't ever forget, its time is limited..."

Just fine...And thanks again, Red...he smiled at her...

"For my best friend's intended?...Anything..." she grinned...

"Yes...Well, as I was saying William..." Giles resumed...Will again all attention on his Chairman...Willow heading back to the main counter...Silently chuckling all the way...God, if anyone had told me this a year or two ago...

If it had to be anyone, thank God it would be an Englishman...Giles thought...

And...A Victorian to boot...

Alternate Earth...

That fateful pre-dawn morning, now three months ago, Nemesis had met most of the old gang...Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara, and William...Accompanied by several Hunters detached from the Mears Corp guard force...In an LA parking lot...For Will's sake, an hour before dawn...Though he had prepped himself for the possibility of sunrise during negotiations (or battle), courtesy Willow's daylight protection spell...

They'd driven in in a couple of Council vans...No sign of Nemesis as they got out and looked cautiously around until Anya pointed, startled by her sudden appearance in front of them...She was that fast?...

"Hey, guys..." she'd beamed...Looking about...

Will...she smiled gently at William...

"Where's Dawn...?" she frowned...With a Geesh expression that made Willow grin...And tugged at her heart...

Maybe, she thought, in spite of herself...And Giles' careful warnings...Maybe our Buf is back...She gave Nemesis a reasonably warm smile...Forgetting for a moment, the carnage William and Giles had described...

William remained noncommital...Eyeing Nemesis carefully, ordering the Hunters to take up mobile defensive positions...

"Dawn stayed home..." Tara kindly told the anxious-looking Nemesis... "We thought it was best...Until we've talked..."

Buffy...she finished...With a smile...

"I understand Tara..." Nemesis smiled wanly back...Waving hands in a peaceful gesture...

Maybe I'll catch up with her later on...

"Hey Xander, An...Willow..." she took them all in...

"Wish Giles could've come...But I understand...Busy in London with the Council and all..."

Is...Warren better...? she asked pleasantly...

"Better than the others...And Jonathan..." William replied coldly...

"And it wasn't Mears in any case...Which I'd guess you knew..."

She frowned at him...Some way to greet your resurrected wife...she noted to Willow...

"You remember...?" Willow looked at her...

Nemesis nodded, a faint grin at William...

"I remember...It was when he tried to kill me, then told me he loved me...After the chip...And ran off to Africa...Gone for weeks...And when he came back...And I went to kill him, thinking he must've gone to lose the chip..."

And I couldn't...Right away I could see it...Shining in his eyes...she smiled at him...That beautiful soul...

"Most God-damned beautiful soul in the world..."

And...Then...I had the vision...Saw us together in 1880...In love...Married...

"Course..." she grinned... "It was weeks before I accepted that it wasn't a trick...A spell..."

Willow looked at William...Who still remained intently focused on Nemesis, while having the Hunters move about to keep her off balance...

"Then...Giles helped me access more visions...I saw Will driven away...By me...Or not me...And my death...As Cicely..."

And then you, Willow...And Anya...she smiled now at her...Anya unable to resist a smile back...Helped me piece Halfreck's role in it all together...

Yeah...she nodded...I remember all of it...

"We were all so happy then...For just a little while..."

William did not look at her...

"Then...Dawn came...And Glory...And Mom...Left..."

And I died...she paused...

"Glad to see Giles finally got to accepting it all...He really took to my poor Will like a father to a son...in-law, huh...?"

Yeah...Willow noted...

That's my sweet Giles...I'm glad...she turned back to William...

"But I even remember more than all that now...Cicely is here, Will...Alive in me, more than ever before...All her memories, floating up...Part of me..."

All thanks to good ole Warren...

"He isn't here...?" she eyed the group...

The new self-proclaimed God of Biomechanics slipped away from us a while ago, Buffy...Willow sighed...

"It's been his clone running the corporation...For months, we think..."

Ah...Nemesis nodded...

"Thought there was something strange about him back at the lab...I didn't remember Warren as quite so good-looking...Or brave..."

So...she smiled...Here we all are...Together again, thanks to Warren...A slight coolness creeping into her voice as she eyed the moving Hunters...

And William...she smiled at him...Though he seems to have had...Second thoughts...About the success of my resurrection...

The smile now rather harsh as she eyed the rest...

"Buffy...?" Willow began...All they all sensed this family reunion was taking a somewhat negative turn...

"Why did you guys do this to me?..." she looked at them... "How could you let Warren get his hands on me...In me...Oh, God..." she sighed...

Look at them...she pointed at the Hunters...Did I deserve that?...Was that my reward, your Gift to me for all I did for you...For all of you...?

"You guys...I died for all of you...And you let them be...Let Warren change me into them...And into...This..." she touched her cheek and shook her head...Not a drop...she told them, sadly...

Xander stared at her, then William...

"Not a tear...For Mom...Or me..."

Or you...she eyed them...

"You let him do this to me..." she told them quietly...

Xander put his hand to his head...Tara stared...Willow looked at William...Still fixedly watching Nemesis' moves...Ready to call the Hunters to make a strike, if necessary...

Anya took advantage of the opening...

"Why...?" Nemesis began...

"We just wanted you back, Buffy..." Anya tried...

"Oh...?"

So...Saving your precious hides was more important to you than what you were doing to me...she smiled faintly...

My friends...she beamed...My lil' sis...Who I would've...Heck, did...Die for...

"Well...I'm afraid to say...For the present at least...I've come round to your way of thinking..." she eyed them...

My precious hide is more important to me now than what I'll be doing to you...

"Sad isn't it...?" she smiled... "You guys are a bad influence on me...I used to be so noble and selfless..."

Guess I'll just have to find me a new set of friends...A new family...Who truly care about me...And try to be Buffy for them...

All but...she looked at William...

"Will...?" there was real pleading, even sorrow in her eyes...

"How could you let them do this to me...?...Tell me you didn't help them..."

"Buffy..." Willow began...

"I'm not talking to you, Miss Rosenberg..." she eyed her coolly...

"I'm talking to my husband..."

"I'm to blame, Buffy..." he replied...

I gave your tissue to Mears...Asked him to try and bring you back...

She stared at him...Trembling slightly...

"He tried to stop it, Buffy..." Tara interjected... "He tried to..."

"I know..." Nemesis nodded... "I did a little poking around back in the Corporation before my little upset today...Saw Warren's lab logs...He found it all very amusing...Will's pleas that he stop the work, the Council getting involved when Will tried to take stronger measures to destroy my stuff...Had quite a chuckle over it all, my dear ole 'dad' did..."

Thank you though, Tara...It was nice of you to tell me that...she smiled...

"It's too bad though...That all the rest of you kept him from stopping Warren...And bet...bett...Damn it!...That jackass Warren!...(betrayed?...William helpfully asked...Yeah, thanks...she nodded) me to Mears and the Council..." she glared...

I saw those notes too...

She looked at them...

"Even Dawn, my own sister...She called Giles and told him that Will had gone to get my stuff back from Mears..."

And even Giles let it happen...Even Giles...she sighed...

Is Dawny around, in LA?...At Angel's, maybe?...Or home, by the way?...she looked round...

"Didn't she even want to see me...?"

Willow was slipping around to the side, trying to get out of her view...

"We wanted to save you..." Tara began...

"Stop!..." Nemesis shouted...Waving a hand in front of her... "You wanted to save yourselves!...And Willow, you stop right there!...Or I will kill the others right now!...Before you can chant a word!.. You know I can do it!..."

I loved you all...she stared at them...And you did this to me...she looked at the Hunters...

"And now...I can't even cry for you..." she sighed...

"Buffy...If there's still anything left of you..." Xander began...

"What is it, Xander?...Are you asking me to spare you...Brother?...Or is there some new bad thingy giving the world some trouble that you want lil' ole me to save you from...Again?"

"Buffy...Please...I'm to blame..." Will pleaded...

"But you tried to stop it, Will...And in any case...I owed you...I killed you...No, worse than killed, my poor baby, back then in 1880...My stupid mistake, listening to my Watcher and Halfreck...Letting them make me think you'd be safe if I let her take my place and drive you away..."

Even if you hadn't tried to stop Mears...I'd owe you, William...My poor baby...Oh...

Our poor baby...she trembled... "Oh, Will...She was so beautiful...I wish you could have seen her, poor thing..."

"I remember every line of her face...Our Amelia...I named her Amelia...After your sister..."

He hung his head...Tara putting a hand out to his back...

A terrible coldness came over Nemesis...I owe my Will...she repeated...

And I love my...husband...

"But things have changed with me, thanks to your buddy Warren...And I don't owe the rest of you...Anything..."

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XIII...

Alternate Earth...

Whether she had intended to that very morning or not, Nemesis had lived up to her name that day...

Perhaps at that first meeting she still merely had intended to feel things out, see if any of the old gang had supported Will in his efforts to stop Mears...And withhold her full wrath until later...

But...As with the gang when the Council had pushed forward Mears' Hunter project and they'd found themselves trapped by their own fears...Events quickly outstripped any plans laid by any of those present...

Tara's well-meant effort to put the best possible light on the gang's actions had simply inflamed Nemesis' anger...While her poorly concealed rage had caused the Hunters on guard to take up defense stances...

All was at a hair-trigger edge...When Willow had chosen...Poorly...To take pre-emptive action to secure the situation...

Again well-meant...She'd even hoped to restrain Nemesis without injury...And later, maybe...Under proper restraint...Reason with her and work on her problems with anger and pent-up rage...

Unfortunately she'd underestimated both her current opponent...And Dr. Warren Mears...Whose magics protections proved to be quite effective...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...the new and Anya would have rejoiced, expanded, Magic Box...Later in the afternoon...

A beaming Buffy arrived after her counseling hours...Ostensibly to meet with Giles, for both the usual review of the Sunnydale and world situations and to monitor her slow recovery from her strength-draining battle with the First...Primarily, and naturally, to see her intended...Still earnestly plugging away at his Watcher training...Make plans for their LA trip...And, maybe...If time allowed, discuss their future...

But...As she hurriedly insisted...There was no rush...His Doublemeat duty not being for several hours...Their joint Doublemeat duty, she inwardly beamed, having at no little cost in miserable future shifts, and some severe glares from an annoyed Robin Wood at the new high school, secretly managed to schedule several nights together as well as arrange time off...William and Giles should continue their work...She'd just observe a bit, maybe give Willow a helping...Willow gulping and rolling her eyes back at the main counter...Hand...

Kinda neat to see Will hard at it, all intense and dedicated in his Watcher's uniform..(The old Randy suit for now, but tweed to follow as soon as Giles could get him to a decent tailor)...she noted...

But not meaning to make fun...Or interfere in any way...she solemnly added...Smiling at him...

Just...Doesn't he look great...So English...she noted to Willow from the research table...

"Yes...I should hope so..." Giles somewhat sternly agreed...

But as to becoming a properly trained Watcher...A degree of...Concentration...Is required...He eyed Buffy...

Hmmn...Right...she nodded...Got it...Go help Willow...No problem...she got up...Giving a pleased William a quick but devoted kiss...

"Ready for Retail..." she saluted Willow at the counter...

Gr...eat...Willow beamed...Nervously...

Ummn...Well...Lets see...She began mentally reviewing the less-potent merchandise for something the Slayer could handle...

"So...Wil...Does William strike you as a chicken kinda guy?..." Buffy asked her in a whisper...

Huh?...

"I'm trying to come up with something for our first home dinner..." she explained...Still in a whisper...A glance over to William...

Willow stared at her, blinking...

Ok, the "engagement party" should have gotten me prepped...But this...Dinner at...Home?...Has the hard edge of reality to it...

"Say..." Buffy looked at her, guiding her friend to a hidden corner... "I wanna take Will to lunch later...Do some shopping for him...You think the spell will hold if he does it just before we go?..."

Shopping?...Willow blinked...

"He needs clothes...I blew most of his old ones up, remember?..."

"Oh...yeah..." Willow nodded...Hmmn...A leetle too much reality coming down, I'd say...she thought...A frozen, brittle smile on her face...

She's really going through with this...She's gonna take him on...The whole shebang...God, I sat there all last night and the night before watching poor Xander and Giles and Dawn choke on it and it never sunk in until just now...Dinner at home, shopping...

Buffy and William...The Walthrops...Oh, God...It's real...

"Course, you're welcome to come with us..." Buffy said brightly in a way that suggested anything but...

Much against his inclination, Giles had to admit, watching Buffy...He hadn't seen her so happy and content since Joyce's death...

If you can do this for her...he eyed William, now hard at his reading, silently...Forever...Then...

O...K...

The Hellmouth Watcher candidate stared back up at his Chairman...Vaguely realizing as they looked at each other that "Father" had just given his reluctant blessing...

"Hey...!" she suddenly called over...

"Giles, did you tell Will about Council salary and benefits yet?..."

Ummn...She looked at the new Chairman's slightly frowning face...Sorry...Just have some questions about the medical insurance...

"I guess it can wait till later...Carry on..." she turned back to Willow...While thumbing through a book she found...On vampiresses and such...she noted to her friend...We'll need more background for our Dru hunt...

Ok...What are we pushin' today?...No more mummy hands, I hope?...

No...Willow shook her head...Those are a seasonal kinda thing...

God protect her...God protect them...But if she believes in him so much...He must be worthy, righteous and strong in soul, as my forebears would say...she thought...Well...

"The real movers are these glass..."

"Whoa, look at this..." Buffy halted, spying a picture of ...Dru?...

"Will!...Did ya see this book on Drusilla?" Buffy waved her book...

"Well...Buf...That's not really a book on..." Willow began...Eyeing the book..."Vampiresses and Other Female Creatures of the Silver Screen..."

"And that's an actress from that Ed Wood movie with Johnny Depp...Juliet Landau's the name I think..."

Can't be...Buffy frowned at the picture...That's Drusilla for sure...

"Will?...Dru ever go into acting?..."

Crash!...Buffy jumped back from where she'd bumped the display table...

Orbs...Willow finished, surveying the broken glass...

"The real movers were those glass orbs..." she sighed...

Oh...Really sorry...Buffy noted...

"My timing's a little off these days..." she explained... "The strength-draining thing..."

The door chimed...

Ah, ha...A customer ready for my pounce...She raced to the door... "Oh, hi Brenda..." she smiled at the entering SIT, clearly startled to find the Slayer "pouncing"...

"Anything wrong?..." a visibly nervous Brenda stared at the Slayer...Greatest...and Most Lethal of All Time...

Just helping Willow and Giles out with the store...Buffy explained...

While William does his Watcher training...she beamed over at him...

She's just a little excited...Lots of things happening at once...William noted quietly to his Chairman...

Yes...Giles frowned, looking over at her...She waved back sheepishly from where she was standing with Brenda...

The door chimed again as a second SIT entered, looking training-ready...

Ah..Thank God...Just in time...The Chairman beamed...Slayers-In-Training looking for a worthy opponent...Even if she's a little off her feed these days...

"Oh, Buffy...?" he called to her... "Would you have a moment to help me with these ladies?...In the training room?"...

Oh?...Yeah, sure...she beamed, turning quickly to Willow, now sweeping up the orb remains...

"Sorry, Willow...I'll be back to help in just a bit..."

Phew...Willow sighed...A grateful beam at her new partner...

Which became a mutual exchange...And prayer...

God protect our Buffy and Will...They been through an awful lot these past years...

Buffy had had a change of heart by lunchtime, deciding that a second opinion on clothes, etc might not be such a bad idea...Her renewed invite to Willow therefore being quite sincere...Even a bit anxious...

However it was somewhat diluted by her extension of the offer to Giles as well...After all, who better to approve Will's Watcher work clothes than his Chairman...Though Giles had to beg off...Council business to attend to...World-wide organization to rebuild during the lunch break...

Thank God the transatlantic calls are charged off to the Council, Willow noted to Buffy as she, the Slayer, and a rather startled William left...A daylight trip to the Mall, with his fiancee planning a shopping spree for his benefit being a new experience...And that Travers and co had been far more savvy in managing the Council's real-estate and other financial holdings than in building security...

Especially the finances thing, Buffy noted back quickly...Her mind still dwelling on her earlier question...Hoping to find a good, isolated moment to go over details with the future hubby...Not that she'd allow that sort of thing to intrude on the romance...Just...

Hey, after the last couple of years, she'd become rather practical regarding the financial aspects of daily life...

And she thought it likely he'd made a very good arrangement with the Council for her and Dawn's sake...It not hurting of course that Giles was a boss certain to be sympathetic to their situation...And after all, William had always displayed a bent for the practical even when submerged in mad killer Spike...

Wonder if he made any money with that demonic eggs transaction...? He hadn't seemed to be hard up for cash the past few months...

A somewhat less chilly expression from the newly-arrived Dawn greeted William and his fiancee as they returned to the Box...An expression which quickly moved on to mild shock as sis/sis-in-law took in the vast stock of Buffy purchases...

My God, she's gone insane...Look at all that stuff...

"Just a few things for Will..." a rather embarrassed Buffy sheepishly noted...William looking rather staggered...

"I got the receipts..." Willow hissed to the shocked Dawn... "We can take it back when she recovers her senses..."

Hmmn...Giles eyed the boxes...

"Well, give me the receipts...We'll call it...Hmmn..." he blinked... "Half your first week's salary, William..." he stared at the total...

Half?...Willow blinked...Dawn's expression changed...To something approaching contentment...While Buffy beamed proudly...My guy...

Say, how come the Council didn't come through like this for me...? she thought...Well, thank God for nepotism...she beamed again...At her dear "Father"...

Whoa...Council work pays...Willow thought...

Wonder if there are any openings for an experienced super-Wiccan...?

As Buffy had secretly hoped, it was the joint shift she'd arranged for that evening that pleased him most...

Though she was glad he liked the new watch...It sure cost enough...

While things stayed busy up to closing...And the new Assistant Manager required extensive training...They'd managed to get in a few moments to discuss LA...And the future...

He being a bit startled to find she was not utterly committed to living in Sunnydale...Though she reluctantly accepted that the Slayer must stay near the Hellmouth...

All-in-all, if he'd like to move...She could deal...Commuting would suit her just fine...After Dawny graduated of course...

For now, the occasional trip to merrie ole England on Watcher business would be a welcome change, beginning with his initial six weeks in June...Eight weeks, including a two-week, no duties...Honeymoon...she happily thought...

No need to wait on the wedding once Dru was settled...Hell, she was all for doing it before...But the guys would want a little while to plan...And they could bring the Angel Investigations folks back with them...

Though if Dru slipped past them...The end of May at the latest...

No way were they missing out on a mostly-free English honeymoon...

He let her go on, only occasionally stopping herself to confirm that it was all ok with him...Just taking it all in...The wonder of it all...

It was on the way home, though...As they walked back to the house together...That her one disappointment cropped up...

Kids...Nah, they'd work that out, somehow...Willow and Giles'd find a way...Hell, look at Connor...

No...It was just...

She kinda wished...

Couldn't he be a little more...?

It's only natural, she told herself as they walked...He beginning to talk a bit about his hopes for resuming his writing career...Perhaps completing college, at last...With her...She nodding...Yeah, wonderful, darling...Very nice...

She nodded as he suggested they look over admission requirements to UCal/Sunnydale tomorrow...Speak to Giles about some kind of phony credentials for him...

Aww...C'mon Walthrop, she sighed within...Incredibly sexy woman of your dreams...And nightmares here...Your own true...And hers...By her own heartfelt declaration...

How's about a little...Action...? she thought, eyeing him...Hell, what's a fiancee for...?

This is worse than being with Angel...At least he can't take the risk...

Oh, well...Gotta show a little sensitivity...Especially after our first post-resurrection year...When I used him without a thought...And he's being so responsible...Practical...The college thing and all...

A true Victorian...Geesh...

Still...

He's embarrassed about the Incident...After all, William is a Victorian and one must...Sigh...Take it slow with Victorians...

"Anything wrong, Summers...?" he stared at her...

Nah...she shook her head...

Buffy...? he frowned at her...

"Are we engaged...For real...?"

Yeah...Course...she nodded...Hell, I just spent nearly $600 on you...If that's not committed love...

"Forever love, real?..." he eyed her...

"Pal, the Slayer never does anything by half-measures..." she frowned at him...

What are you trying to ask me?...

"If this is real...And forever...Then why the hell are you keeping things from me?...What's wrong?..."

Oh...

"Nothing..."

He glared at her...Well...she shook her head...

Nothing serious, it's just...

Well...I...

"WHAT!" he thundered, startling her...

"For God's sakes, girl...What?..." he asked her more gently now...

I can't make it right if you don't tell me...

"Well...It's silly..." she began...He frowned darkly... "It's just that..."

You haven't made a pass at me all day...I mean a real, "lets-get-it-on"...Pass...

Even last night you were a little...Well, cautious...Even after my "I love you..."

Too...he added...A sardonic grin...

The girl did that, in this case, I note...he smiled...

"Oh...Is that why?..."

No...Buffy...he shook his head...

"It's just...I didn't want to spoil things...I wanted to be sure you were really ready..."

Ah...she noted...I thought so...

The Victorian thing, right?...she smugly smiled...I figured...

"Oh, did you...?" he eyed her...

I'll take it slow...Don't worry...she nodded at him...

"I understand..." she went on...He staring at her...Buffy...?

"Hell, girl...I was just trying to do things right...And you don't know diddly-squat about Victorians if you think we were all frigid repressives..."

Obviously Buffy Summers has not read much Victorian literature between the lines...he gently chided her...Putting a hand out...Which she took...Tentatively...

See...he noted carefully...

You are still a leetle skittish with me...I sensed it last night, too...And that's why I wanted to go slow...

"Maybe it is the Victorian in me...But it's called...Consideration...A very useful thing for a couple who want to last...And why a lot of our couples did last..."

"I couldn't bear to have you afraid of me, Buffy...Even unconsciously..." he looked deep into her eyes...

And I know what you went through...That day...

What you overcame to reach out to me again...

So...Only when you're really ready...he told her firmly...

She stared at him...And took his hand...

"My mom was right about you, William...She knew...Somehow...What a good man you were, buried in there...And capable of being again..."

"I'm not afraid of you, Will..." she shook her head...Smiling gently and kissing him...

You know...he said...After staring at her a long time...

"Amazing how sexy a greasy uniform can be..." he grinned at her, gently tracing his fingers on her blouse...She smiling back...

Not to mention...That hat...he tenderly stroked her arm...Pulling her hand to his lips...

Oh...Yeah...No problemo here...she thought as she embraced him...

Alternate Earth...The Mears Corporation...

"Xander...?" the Hunter addressing him paused, smiling at him...

Hmmn...He pulled out of his reverie to stare at her...Buffy smiling at him...

The same smile Nemesis had given him that day he'd seen her with the others...Just before she'd accused him and the rest of betraying her...And events had taken their tragic course...

"We've got everything loaded...Should we have the vans go?..." she asked...

Some of the Council people are very upset...she added, biting her lip...

"You and your sisters didn't let them have any materials...?" he stared at her...

No...You said not to...But they were very upset...she repeated...

"I'll take care of it...Tell the drivers they can go...Thanks, Buffy..." he smiled at her...She nodded, beaming...And headed for the main doors, he watching her...

All to save our miserable hides...she'd said...And she'd been right...Though our Buffy would never have said that...She'd've hated us for it, but never said so...The love would've overbalanced the hate...

But, with that extra little bit of Warren Mears in her...Or perhaps with what he'd taken from her...The balance for Nemesis had not worked out so favorably...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XIV...

Alternate Earth...The Mears Corporation...

In the weeks that followed that awful dawn in the LA parking lot, Xander had, in absent moments, reflected idly on who it might have been who'd made the first aggressive move that day...He was inclined to think it had been Willow, trying desperately to gain some slight advantage of surprise via magics which might have enabled her to bring Nemesis down without serious damage...But, like all such questions after a battle, it didn't really matter...Who really cares if it was a Minuteman who let off the first round at Lexington Green, unless perhaps some overly-concerned Brit descendant of the redcoats of that battle...Someone did and the inevitable battle began, with the usual tragic consequences for both sides...

So it was that day...A furious Nemesis bridling at what she at least took for an abortive magics pass by Willow, moved on Will's circling Hunters, angrily tossing a Tara who'd moved in hoping to calm her aside...

Breaking her neck with barely a shove...Perhaps not even intending to...

She was on the first Hunter and killed her even before Willow could whirl round to see Tara limp on the ground, Anya rushing to her...

The other Hunters tried a united assault...Three to one...William desperately trying to recall them and speak to Nemesis...Two were dead, literally torn apart as he watched in horror, while the third was thrown at his feet, badly injured...

"Nemesis!..." he screamed at her...She halting, an enraged look none of them had ever seen on Buffy's face before...

"I...AM...BUFFY SUMMERS!..." she screamed back... "I AM BUFFY SUMMERS...!..."

"William!..." she screamed...But to him, Xander noted...Not at him...

Pleading buried under that rage...

Willow stood, it dawning on her now that Tara was dead...She paused...A pause, that given her cause for anger, convinced Xander that she'd already tried a shot...And failed...

Will hastily carrying the Hunter at his feet back to the van as Nemesis stood watching him...

Then she turned to see Willow, eyes black...

A searing blast fired at her...Which passed over her harmlessly...

"Who do you think you're dealing with, Rosenberg...!" she cried...And ripping a large light post out of the ground, tossed it at her...Willow blasting it away...

The wiccan tried another blast, a disruptive type...It was blocked, somehow...Something protecting her...

Will running back, Willow turning to him... "Red!..." he called to her... "Come on b..." he began...

"Go...Back!..." she tossed him back with a wave which flattened him...Turned back to Nemesis, who raced toward him...

"You killed her!..." Willow screamed at her from where she stood as Nemesis reached William...Xander coming over to them...

Nemesis looking him full in the face...Anger black as Willow's eyes...

"Get him out!..." she raged, pointing at the unconscious William...

"NO!..." Willow roared...Another blast at Nemesis failing...

"He's not going anywhere!...Leave him, Xander...!..." she cried...A wave tossing Xander back...Anya running up...

Nemesis reared up and raced at Willow, who gave up trying to blast energy uselessly at her opponent and concentrated on strengthening herself...

Just in time as Nemesis charged on her and the force of impact threw her across the lot and into one of the parked vans...The closed side door of a parked van...

She staggered up...Waving to heal her injuries...But she could feel her power draining...And it was beyond all doubt now that Nemesis had magics protection as well as strength on her side...

"Can't take it, Rosenberg?" Nemesis called, cheerily mocking...As she smashed at the hoods of the parked vans, wrecking the engines of each with a single blow...

"You won't hold out much longer at this rate...As for me...Your new super-Slayer can do this all day..."

You owe Warren a nice fat commission...she grinned at her...And praise for a job well-done...

"Why just look at me...All so new and improved...Aren't you all proud of yourselves?..." But a wrenching despair mixed in with the mocking...She looked over at Xander...Anya...Hands twisting...Almost as if she were...Pleading...

A stone-faced Willow eyed William on the ground, Nemesis following her gaze...

"You killed her..." Willow said to her quietly...Building up...

"William!..." Nemesis called, racing again for him...Xander on his feet, coming over as well...

Anya dashing over to him...No!...

Willow let loose a bolt at William...To paralyze him and anchor him there, possibly making Nemesis hesitate by him, pining her down, she told Xander later...He choosing to accept that...Despite his certainty at that moment that she had fully intended to kill the lover of her lover's murderess...

Nemesis grabbing and whirling round the first thing at hand to block Will from Willow's burst..

Anya...The blast seared her instantly as Willow watched in horror...

Even Nemesis dropped back, shaken...

Xander!...she called to him...Turning away...

A cry for forgiveness...? Fleeting sympathy...? he would forever wonder...Or vicious gloating...

He was too dazed at the instant to tell...Dragging An's charred, steaming body back...

"XANDER!..." Willow shrieked...Hands to her face...

William moaning, looked up to see...Buffy, nervously staring at him...

"Will?...I'm here..." she called to him, standing over him...

"Buffy and Cicely are here for you, Will...We've come back to you...At last..." she told him... "Lets go now..." she reached a hand to him...

"The others..." he groaned... "I won't..."

Please.. He stared up at her...Willow now staggering over to where Xander knelt by Anya...

"I'm...Sorry...Sorry..." she sobbed to him, eyes fading back...He absently patting her...

"Let them go..." William gasped to Nemesis as she looked at him...

Please...

All right, Will...she nodded...All right...

"We'll talk later...When you want to..."

She was gone in an instant...Vanished...

"Willow!..." Will called to her...She stared at him from where she knelt now, beside Xander...And Anya...

"You've got to get us...Out of...here...Now!..."

She stared, dazed...

"William...Is right, Wil...Get us out..." Xander turned to her...

Xander...she looked at him...

Xander...she looked at Anya, then to poor limp Tara a short distance away...

"Not now, Wil...Later..." he told her simply...

Later...

"For now, we have to get out..."

"I can't teleport far...And not with all of us..."

Can you get us to Angel Investigations...? he stared at her, avoiding the heap on the ground in front of them...

Not all of us...she was calming a bit now...

Leave them...Xander eyed the bodies...She won't bother em...Angel's people can get them later...

Willow stared at him...

Please...William called...Buffy...

They turned to him on the ground...Willow frowning coldly...

"The Hunter in my van..." he explained...

"Get her, Xander..." Willow looked at him...He complied, heading over and carrying her back...

"Will...Too..." Xander eyed her as he set the piteously moaning Hunter Buffy down gently beside Anya ...

He comes too...

Sure...she nodded...But gave William only the briefest of looks as Xander pulled him over to them..

They materialized at the offices of Angel Investigations, LA several minutes later to find a scene of tragic pandemonium...

Nemesis had had a busy night...

And while waiting for the old Sunnydale gang had seen no reason not to settle a few other scores...Including one with the old lover who'd left her to fight Glory alone...At least, unaware as he'd been that she...Original Buffy...And newly souled William had rediscovered their joint past...Alone within the limits of what he'd known of her situation...

The counterpart of the fiend who'd created Drusilla...That monster who'd worse than murdered her husband...

And the fool lame "vamp with a soul" who gotten in Original Buffy's way...Blocking poor William from her view, putting him at dangerous risk of staking by her while still lost in Spike...Bloody stupid fool, who should've known human soul Darla was the blonde for him all these years...

An injured Wesley told them what he could...Angel had tried to calm her, managing to slip Connor out to safety...On learning which...Compounded by her rage at his lack of knowledge of Drusilla's current location and movements...What happened to bringing peace to your "most regretted victim" for cryin' out loud?...She'd wasted no more time on their little reunion...

Despite support of several well-armed operatives, friendly (courtesy steady paycheck) demons no less, Angel had gone down in a few seconds...

She pausing near the end only to politely tell him she truly regretted their meeting again under these circumstances...But, despite her anger at his failing to help her...Or even to help care for poor Dawn afterwards...she forgave him...And, admit it...He'd be much happier in Heaven, with his poor Darla...

Well, maybe a few years in Purgatory awaiting them...But with his recent efforts and her actions on Connor's behalf...They were both sure to make the cut one day and spend Eternity as a happy couple...

Besides...She was sorry to tell him...She already had a mate...Long married, she was embarrassed to admit...Only a regrettable error after her reincarnation as Buffy Summers had caused her to confuse him with her own true from the past...A minor mix-up about the soul thing...Kinda like him with her and Darla...

So...Really sorry...But it wouldn't have worked out...

She was quick...Wesley sighed...Mercifully quick, one had to give her that...

And had left after demanding and receiving all the slight data available on Drusilla...And smashing all communications systems, including all cell phones in detectable reach...Before leaving to meet with her old friends...

She'd heard the faint buzzing of the electronics in the cell phones...Even the hidden ones in rooms across the building...he shook his head in wonder...Remarkable...

And then it had begun...A ceaseless, one-woman, guerilla campaign...Nemesis versus the combined forces of the Council of Watchers, their Hunters, Buffy's old gang and the remnants of the AI team, and those supernatural creatures who'd quickly learned that Nemesis' attitude towards old friends and family not withstanding, she was still quite willing to eliminate any demon or vamp who happened to cross her radar...

But her wrath...And incredible abilities...Were reserved for those who she felt had betrayed and abused her...

Within one week, half the world's Hunters, their Watchers, and a number of guards and various fighters thrown in...Plus to her insisted regret, according to various calls, emails, notes she'd left in her wake, a sizable number of innocent bystanders...Had been killed...

It quickly became clear to the Council that only by keeping their Hunter forces massed at the Hellmouth...Thus pining Nemesis to the area...And their London headquarters heavily protected by both the world's best magics practioners and troops of the world's governments which via the Hunters they now secretly controlled... Could they hope to hang on and in time prevail...

Unfortunately the best current source of information on her nature and her protections, along with his more detailed records and notes, the clone of Warren Mears who'd been running Mears Corp, had vamoosed in the initial panicky confusion of Nemesis' attacks...Just as his original had before him...

And Nemesis had done a fine job of destroying what little data he'd not pulled in her rampage the day of her escape...

So it was, to take the offensive against the menace, that the Council had turned to Vice-Chairman Giles and he, with some trepidation, to William Soames Walthrop, soul-restored vampire, Hellmouth Watcher, and Hunter trainer/guardian...

Husband...In at least in Nemesis' own mind...And, remarkably, beloved husband still, it seemed...Of Buffy Anne (Cicely Anne Addams Walthrop) Summers...

Backed up by the bulk of the remaining Hunters and the old Sunnydale and AI teams...Most of the humans, particularly the most valuable like Willow, Wesley, Winifred, and Cordelia evacuated to London but in close contact...

Dawn likewise...For her own safety, of course...Nemesis having made no bones about her rage at lil' sis...Who'd prevented Will from destroying the tissue he'd given Mears...And started the whole awful chain of events by appearing...Just when Buffy'd rediscovered her Will and her past life as Cicely...And happiness had been within Original Buffy's grasp...

Yes...Her own safety...And potential value as hostage and even, as Willow had secretly... Coldly...Noted at a closed Council meeting with Giles and Travers...An energy source...If required...

The basic plan focusing on studying Nemesis and her behavior...And determining what she was seeking besides the destruction of the Hunters and the Council...

There was definitely something on her mind besides rampaging revenge...After the surviving Hunters had been called together in Sunnydale and the Council in London well secured, she'd remained far too quiet...Only surfacing briefly to make a stab at the now very heavily fortified Mears Corporation...

Which she could have penetrated, had she merely wanted to destroy it...William had pointed out in discussion with the others...

There was something there she wanted...Maybe more than one something...

And very likely...The key was a brilliant, despicable, rather nerdy, late thirtiesish scientific genius...

The "Savior of Humanity" himself, Dr. Warren Mears...Currently incommunicado and unaccounted for...Clones and original...

A large part of the past weeks' efforts by Walthrop and his team had therefore been directed at finding the good Dr. and/or his offspring...

But two members of the team had their own, quite differing agendas...Though of the two, Willow's was most in sync with the Council's...

Perhaps, in time, Willow's anger might have cooled a bit...She might have remembered a little of what had been done to Buffy to make her feel such hate as she obviously did...And, if given time...

But four days after Tara's death, a card had arrived at her London office in the Council building...

A simple condolence card...

Deepest Sympathy...The front of the card read...

Inside...

"I loved her...I loved you all...Why?" a hasty scrawl...

No faint attempts by Xander or William or even Giles to suggest that Nemesis might have been trying to express sincere regret could overcome her anger at what she viewed as a viciously mocking taunt...

It was Nemesis now...Or herself...Whatever she had to do...Whoever she had to hurt in the process...This was going to end...

After that, there was no going back for Willow...

As for the other team member with a separate agenda...He was already the target of suspicion, as he was all too well aware...Had been from the start...

Sympathetically from the view of Giles and Xander, hoping he might be spared the opportunity and temptation of adding her...With a cold eye to his potential use as a lure for Nemesis by Willow and Chairman Travers...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XV...

Alternate Earth...Willie's...Rather a larger place than his counterpart's in the normal Buffyverse, the Snitch of this Earth having become a favored client of the (nearly) all-powerful Council of Watchers...In return for occasional services rendered...Both in his ole Snitch capacity and as a discrete host...

Two months after Nemesis' escape and battle with the old gang...Three weeks before her and Will's attempt to negotiate with dear ole Warren and reach new Earth ..

Despite his quite prosperous looking exterior, alternate Willie still had born traces of the ole Snitch...Especially in his nervous, ferret-like glances, which neither good times nor even an expensive course of psychotherapy had been able to completely remove from his nature...

Glances which were especially pronounced that day...As he'd interviewed a client for the newly vacant post of bar...Well, actually he preferred...

"Club"...In keeping with the ever-upscaling nature of his place...singer...

An applicant who, despite her efforts to disguise herself, he knew all too well...And would've recognized on sight even if he hadn't seen a steady stream of Buffy Hunters accompanying their Council Masters...er Watchers...to his place...Favored by them for his famed discretion...Night after night...

Moreover, he'd been aware of Nemesis' existence and her escape...A story which had haunted the underworld for the past couple months...The brief cheering at the destruction of many of the Hunters having quickly faded as Nemesis amply displayed her Slayer talents in the off-hours when she was not occupied with her sisters and the Council...

On seeing her smiling, somewhat anxious face...Really needed this job, she'd pleadingly noted to the fool of an assistant who'd let her in and urged him to see this one...Quite a looker, boss...What I get for hiring clueless humans, Willie'd sighed to himself...He'd naturally considered an ass-saving, immediate call to the Council, possibly to Giles or to ole Spike...er Walthrop, who perhaps might be inclined to a hair more kindness towards the poor kid...

But somehow, seeing her gently smiling face beaming at him...Rather innocently pleased with the "success" of her disguise...He couldn't quite bring himself to take the sane and sensible course experience had taught him to generally prefer...

To his credit, in part it was the thought of handing this Buffy Summers...More Buffy than any of the others he seen in the last two years since the Hunters had first appeared, over to the pigs of the Council to join her sisters in slavery that held him back...

But he would have been a lost man in any case, the moment she sang for him...Even if his practical nature prevented him from having any illusions about her feelings towards him...

He'd been about to send her on her way...Position filled, sorry...Allowing her a few moments' grace to make her escape before he placed his call...When she'd gently begged him to let her do just one song...

Ummn...

"Maybe You'll Be There..." she shyly noted to his little quartet of "club" musicians...This Willie having truly gone upscale with prosperity...

A direct, searching look at her would-be new employer...And again, that gentle Buffy smile...

[Suggested theme...(Maybe You'll Be There)]

Nemy at Alternate Willie's in "disguise"...

"Each time I see a crowd of people...

Just like a fool I stop and stare...

It's really not the proper thing to do

But maybe you'll be there...

I go out walking after midnight

Along the lonely thoroughfare...

It's not the time or place...To look for you

But maybe you'll be there...

You said your arms would always hold me...

You said you lips were mine alone to kiss...

Now after all those things you told me

How could it end like this...?

Someday if all my prayers are answered

I'll hear a footstep on the stair...

With anxious heart...I'll hurry to the door...

And maybe you'll be there..."

Willie blinked slowly...His beaming moron of an assistant eyeing him...The kid is good, no Boss...?

Yeah...He'd eyed her...He might just possibly be able to use her...Staring at her...

Never knew Summers could sing...

A hour later, over dinner in one of his booths...She having confessed to not eating in a rather a long while...He'd warned her of the failure of her "disguise"...Her disappointment at its failure more than mitigated by her pleasure at his willingness to assist her in concealing her whereabouts...Good old Willie, she'd inst...insin...(instinctively?...he'd asked kindly...Yeah, thanks...she'd beamed) known she could turn to him for help...she'd told him...Patting him...

Thanks to him, lamb that he was...She could stay within easy monitoring range of the Corporation...Its Council staff...And William...

Such a sweet guy...she'd beamed at him...Not meaning to lead him on by any means...But if he chose to help her escape her pursuers out of the goodness of his heart...The new Buffy Summers was perhaps a bit more open-minded as to what constituted true romantic commitment...And in her choice of casual sexual partners...

A practical bent bequeathed to her by her dear ole "Dad's" manipulations...

Though, sadly for alternate Willie in the end, causing her a considerable deal of buried conflict...And resentment as her various natures warred amongst themselves within her...

But, perhaps in the end...He'd gladly have accepted the sporadic blessings of those three weeks with her even had he known the eventual cost...Though, able reader of human hearts that the Snitch was...He likely had already guessed...

And it was through her dear new boss...And thanks to his remarkable perceptiveness towards the more flawed of his fellow men...That she finally got her line on Warren...Or at least the clone of him who'd fled the Council's and her own wrath...The mysterious "JL Sebastian..."

Luckily for her, compelled by motives similar to her own to stay in the Sunnydale area...

As for re-establishing contact with her own true...She'd taken the direct approach, its recklessness mitigated for her by her certainty...With every fiber of what remained of Buffy and Cicely in her...That he would come to her...Take his proper place by her side...Even if he had to betray his trust...And the only family outside of Dru and co, he'd known in a century...

To her credit...And to what would've been Warren's distaste, had he somehow learned of it...That was the principle thing that did cause her a twang or two...

Condemning poor Will's soul...His soul this time and possibly for all time...It was bad enough to have played a major role in his initial condemnation back in 1880...But that had only amounted to death and the trapping of his desperate soul on Earth, hovering about Spike, somehow sure his Cicely would return to him and put things gone so badly for them...right...

This was likely to have Eternal consequences...If his soul fell into Evil for her sake...

She herself was likely safe, she felt...It was, after all, dear ole "Dad" Mears' fault that she was behaving perhaps a tad less nobly than her original self...Any reasonably merciful God would overlook it, especially once she'd forced Warren to restore her completely...No, Buffy's and Cicely's united soul...Two careers of noble self-sacrifice for crying out loud...was in no danger...God couldn't be so cruel...

But regarding William...It bothered her...Even to the extent of making her hesitate before she'd dialed direct and suggested they meet...

But heck...It wasn't as if he'd killed Tara or An...Not to mention her "sisters"...And she'd never dream of asking him to do something he'd consider wrong...Over helping her escape the others and perhaps, looking the other way while she did what had to be done to make that escape possible...

Hell, it was only for his sake...Well, his sake and their joint chance at a happy conclusion to their tormented love story, star-crossed if there ever was one...That she'd abandoned her efforts to finish off her "sisters" and deal with the surviving members of the gang...And if they'd have the good sense to keep out of her way, she'd be willing to leave this dreadful world...Hell if Hell existed anywhere...Quietly...For the new one Warren's Gateway project had offered...That haven...A Heaven of sorts...Where a Buffy was needed, would be appreciated and loved by her alternate friends and family...Where all would be right again...

And she had to have him beside her...Whatever the consequences...As she'd told him during her second, longer call, after leaving a time in her first, hasty message...There was no point to it all if she'd lost him...The silent pause on his end...And its failure to be followed by an immediate ambush convincing her that she'd won her boy back...However uncomfortable he might have been made by the unfortunate circumstances surrounding their reunion...

Just a little "foul dust floating in the wake of his dreams..." as F. Scott Fitzgerald would have said...Dust she would do her damnedest to clear away...She'd promised him happily, sure now things between them were breaking her way...

Well, Warren's little practical joke regarding her occasional problems with certain large words didn't mean she was a illiterate Hunter imbecile...she'd explained, sensing his startled surprise at her quote...

See ya soon...darling...she'd breathed...Shutting off her phone as he'd stared at his...

It was all gonna be all right...she'd hugged herself...William was still hers...Mears had failed and thanks to her Cicely nature, defeating all his attempts to turn her from her true...Buffy had triumphed at last...

And the rest would be all right again too...Just like the before time...

Maybe even Mom would be alive on new Earth...Mourning her Buffy, not aware a Buffy was about to come back to her...Well, mustn't wish for too much...And it would be an Earth, not a Heaven...

Still, she had Will back...She was sure of it...He'd come...And she'd be able to set things right for them at last...

Though as always she had hard practical reasons for requiring his presence as well...She literally couldn't hope to hook up with Warren and use him to reach new Earth via Gateway without the assistance of the Hellmouth's Watcher and Hunter supervisor...

A fact William had been fully aware of when he went to meet her that night at Willie's...And knowing which could not prevent him from seeking her out...Any more than could his guilt and shame at the betrayal his meeting her implied...Whatever he'd vaguely told himself as well as poor Dawn, now back with him and Xander in LA at the former, heavily guarded Angel Investigations offices (at the insistence of a Vice-Chairman Giles, rightly suspicious of Travers' and Willow's plans for her use), beforehand regarding the need to lure her out before he'd left ostensibly to locate and trap her...In fact to join her...

He'd known he wouldn't be able to fight the bond between them...

It was his fate to be by her side...Whatever form she took...Whatever the consequences...Always...

And dying for her was no big deal...Been there, done that...

Alternate Earth...The underground lair of Original Warren near The Mears Corporation...The present, four weeks after Nemesis' escape...

Nothing more charming than when a father and daughter meet after a long parting, William sardonically noted...As Nemesis eyed Original Warren coolly, standing in his office doorway...A phalanx of Mears' remaining Katrinas and his few prototype Hunters protecting him...

Dear ole dad...In the nonclonal flesh...Oh, the joy...

"How've you been, Warren?...Nice clone you have there..." she smiled brittlely at him...And at the clone, now taking his own position within and among Warren's defense force...

"You are aware he ran your company better than you ever did?..."

"I should hope so..." Warren wearily smiled at her...Surprising both her and Will...Hard times have improved him, William thought...

"He was made to...As you were made to be the best Buffy I could create... "

After all...

"Not only are you genetically enhanced...There's a little of me in you..." He gave an icy smirk from behind his desk...As she glared...

I just had sex with...A little bit of Warren Mears?...William gagged a bit...They having insisted on a few moments alone from the Mears clone and his guards to "discuss the situation" back at the entrance to Original Mearsy's underground lair...

Ummn...To coordinate their strategy before they finally met with the one and only...

Well, they'd honestly intended to discuss the situation...But...The lady having been as anxious as the gentleman...And even in a crisis situation true love finds time...

Receiving the reports from a somewhat flustered Hunter watching them surreptitiously, Clone Warren had been as amused as his original would have been...Pity he'd had no direct video feed to pass a few images along...Give a proud "Dad" a chance to see his handiwork engaged in a more creative activity than her destructive efforts of the past months...


	2. Chapter 2

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

[Suggested main theme..."The Look of Love..."]

Part XVI...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...

It was a dark Dawn who greeted Buffy on her return from Doublemeat and Patrol...

One quick look on older sis' entry had confirmed it...They'd...Had...Sex...No doubt about it...

Geesh...Buffy thought, eyeing her annoyed-looking sis a tad nervously...What the hell?...We're engaged...

The four SITs on hand however were quite supportive...Though equally aware...And curious...

That glow...Unmistakable...

"How's William?..." Lorna, a tall Swedish girl, asked... "Did he perform well?..."

"At the palace of hamburgers, I mean..." she hastily added...

"Assistant Manager Walthrop showed promise..." Buffy grinned...

"Yeah...I'll bet..." Dawn narrowly eyed her sis...

"Didn't you want him to stay the night...?" she glared, more than a slight sneer...

Time enough for that...Buffy glared back...And looked a moment at the wall...The SITs quietly finding reasons to be elsewhere...

"Jesus...Dawn?...What does he hafta do?..." she murmured, finally looking at her as they stood alone... "What more can he do?..." A tear running down her cheek as Dawn stared back...

In any case...You'll have to deal... 'Cause this is happening, whether you like it or not...she gave a cold glance...

"But...Maybe you're right, sis..." she smiled sweetly at Dawn...

"I should have him move into the basement here for now...Until we leave...Get us some living together practice and start a routine regarding his "special needs" and all..."

Funny...Dawn nodded grimly...Hilarious...

"Maybe when you hit LA you two should invite Dru to your wedding instead of destroying her...She's your mother-in-law, right?..."

"We haven't said we'll be destroying her..." Buffy paused... "He wants to try and save her, maybe restore her soul too...And then see what human Dru wants..."

Lovely...Dawn looked away...What a guy...she looked at the picture of Joyce on the coffee table...

"Wouldn't Mom be proud...?"

"Yes..." Buffy nodded... "She'd be very proud to have a man like William for a son..."

She grabbed Dawn and turned her around... "Damn you!..." she hissed... "He's a man again!...Who saved your life!...And mine..."

"Don't you have any understanding of what he's been through?...The life he's lost...Dawn?...You saw...You saw him...Fighting to break through...Trying to beat Spike back the moment the chip gave him the chance..."

Dawn shrugged her off...Standing away from her, silent...Finally...

"You don't owe him this much, Buffy..." she looked down... "Not your whole life thrown away on him..."

Dawn...

"Not your whole life, Buffy...This isn't compassion...This is just crazy..."

"It's not...Compassion...You're righter there than you know..." she replied, sighing...

"He saw the dawn for the first time in a century today..." Buffy eyed her... "With me at his side...And I thought...Oh, God...To see him alive again...Like this...A man again..."

"I've saved him...I have saved him at last...That's what I thought..."

"It's not your job to take care of him..." Dawn began...

No...You're right about that...Buffy nodded...That's where I went wrong...Somehow...Once...

I can't take care of him...Protect him...By myself...

"It's our job...His and mine...To take care of each other..." she looked at her sis...

"That's why he stayed here...And why I came back...I know that now..."

And I won't let anyone...Not even you, Dawn...Keep us apart...

"Why?..." Dawn stared at her... "How can he be the one you want?...After Angel...Riley...? How can you say Spike...Is the..."

Not Spike...Buffy replied, shaking her head...William...William...Soames Walthrop is the man I love...And am going to keep with me...And marry...And why?...she paused...

"Because...Somehow...I know he is...That he's always been...And..."

Because I live to see him smile...she smiled wanly at Dawn...

Alternate Earth, alternate Mears' underground lair near the Mears Corporation...The present...

Nemesis and alternate William confronted the leering Dr. Warren Mears, protectively surrounded as he sat at his large desk by his devoted Katrinas, his few prototype Buffy Hunters, glancing rather apologetically at their William, and his own clone Warren, smirking in true Mears style...

"Well..." Mears eyed them... "We have a deal or no?..."

"A deal?..." Nemesis smiled at him... "You and I?...Why, Papa?..Your lil' girl is hurt...Our relationship goes so deep...According to you, at least..."

He sighed at her...A bit nervous, in the back of his eyes, Will noticed, but all-in-all rather cool and calm for dear ole Mearsy...His time on the run had improved him...Unless...

Nope, same ole Warren smell...The real thing...

"Doesn't anyone appreciate the gift of life anymore?..." Mears shook his head, leaning back...

"Not when it comes with the package deal you offered...Papa..." Nemesis replied coldly...

"Pretty nice package if you ask me..." he leered at her...

"Warren...Lets not mar this little family reunion with your losing your head...Lit... Let... (Literally?...William suggested...Thanks, she nodded...)" she gently smiled...

"I think we should get down to business...There's not much time..." William noted...

"That's my practical poet..." she beamed at him...And turned back to Warren with a sudden cold glare...Well...?

"Alright..." Warren nodded carefully... "You want access to my Gateway portal...And the new Earth I've located..."

"And you get the you in me out!...Fix whatever you did to me!..." Nemesis insisted harshly...

Oh?...He stared at her...His guards eyeing her carefully, the Katrinas and Hunters tensing for an attack...He waved them down...Just a mo, girls...And guy...He eyed his personal clone rather paternally...At least one of his more independent offspring appreciated dear ole 'Dad'...

"That's about the size of it, Warren..." Will nodded... "Now can you deliver the goods?...Or shall I step outside while you and your little girl have a heart-to-heart...?"

Nemesis beamed...

"We haven't discussed my share of the benefits in this arrangement, Walthrop..." Warren noted...

Please...Will politely waved at him...Nemesis likewise giving him an attentively sweet look...Which took a little of the calm poise out of Dr. Mears as he stared back at her...Lots more terrifying somehow...

"Well then..." he struggled a bit for a second...

"Safe passage for me as well to new Earth...A guarantee that I'll be left alone there...Alive..." he hastily added...Nemesis being of a precise bent of mind... "And unbothered by either of you..."

"After you take care of me..." Nemesis looked at him...

"If we do it there...I'll have to bring equipment..." Warren noted cautiously... "I don't believe new Earth has our level of genetic technology as yet...Or it didn't when I probed it before..."

"Is that a problem?..." William stared...

"Only if you don't mind dragging a couple of crates of stuff around...And finding a lab to work in..."

"We'll find a place...And we can handle your junk..." Nemesis looked at Will...

"Wouldn't it be better to do it here...?" he looked back...

"Mmmn...I don't think so, Will..." she shook her head... "It's not that I don't trust my 'dad' here..." she smiled at Warren... "But if I'm Buffy again...Completely...I might have trouble dealing with him...Properly...If he crosses us..."

And there's the gang...Willow especially...To think about...They'll try to stop us...Probably are on it now...At the very least, Xander's ready for us at the Corporation...

"I just don't think we could convince them...At least her anyway...That I'm back to my ole self in time...And I don't intend for us to die now...Not now...Not even if I believed we owed them for what I've done..."

William stared at her...Suffer a sea change...Into something rich and strange...The quote drifted across his mind...

God...What have I done to her...?

She shrugged... "For the moment, this Buffy needs her hard edge..."

Her "Warren" edge, Mears...And his clone, naturally...Both thought smugly...

"I can repent at leisure on new Earth when Warren straightens me out..." she grinned at him... "It'll work out, Will..." she patted him...Reassurance, but a hardness in her voice...

"Have you thought about that, Buffy...?" he stared at her... "About how you'll feel about all that's happened when...If..." he glared at Warren, watching them carefully... "Ole Mearsy can "fix" things for you...?"

"I'll be sorry..." she nodded... "Hey, I am sorry now about Tara and Anya...But..." she turned cold...

I'll deal...

"Just like they did when they let him..." she glanced at Mears... "Have me to play with..."

And didn't try to stop him...Like you did, love... she hastily added, seeing Will's stricken face...

" 'Sides...You've managed to deal...Since we've been back together..." she noted...

He looked away a moment...Oh...She nervously bit a lip...

"I didn't mean anything by that, William..."

He shook an upraised hand at her gently...

"I know..."

"You're a good man, Will...You haven't changed...You're just trying to help me...Get back..." she twisted her hands nervously...

Right, Warren?...she bizarrely turned to the only other person who could be appealed to...Her slightly pleading look quite sincere...

"Yeah...sure..." he stared at them... Geesh...All this grousing over her just doin' what comes naturally...

Some people just can't appreciate the blessings bestowed on them...

"Don't be hurt, William...I didn't mean to hurt you..." she pleaded...Putting a hand on his shoulder...

He looked her squarely in the face...Buffy smiling at him...My poor lost Buffy...he thought...

And something else...Horrible...With her there...

But who better than he to know that such a thing could be overcome...The monster driven back...Surely if he could be saved after a century with Spike...?

But...

"And...What if Warren can't help you...Make you Buffy again...Completely...?"

"His life depends on it..." she told him, not looking at Mears...

"Sorry, no threat intended...For now, girls..." she eyed the guardian clones about him...Who'd tensed again...

And boy...she smiled at the Warren clone...

Anyway...She turned back to Will...

"If he can't do it...I'll make do...It'll be another Earth... A chance to start all over with the guys and all...I'll be Buffy there, even if he can't 'fix' me...I promise, Will..."

Just so long as you promise...You'll stay with me...she looked him full in the eyes...

Warren eyed his clone...Who rolled his eyes...

"You got something to say...Pops...?" Nemesis glared at him...

"Me?...Nah...I'm a sucker for a story of true love, Buffy..." Mears smiled thinly..."But our Mr. Walthrop is right...Time's awasting...Your friends are probably on their way...What do you want to do?..."

"I want...To tear your head off, Warren..." she beamed at him...The clones now moving to defend...

"But...I want William...And my old life back...More..." she backed off...Hands upraised...

The clones settled down...The Hunters looking at her a tad reproachfully...

Will?...she turned to him...

"Will you come?...I'll do my best, I swear..."

"I have to come, Buffy..." he shook his head... "There's no place else for me but with you..."

She nodded slowly...Then turned to the waiting Mears...

"We have a deal, Warren..."

"In that case...Practicalities..." he smiled at the lovebirds...A proud papa giving his blessing...

"Your department, Walthrop...How do we get into my lab?..." he rubbed his chin, staring at William... "And keep your Hunters and friends off our backs...?"

Not to mention...The whole place has been wired to blow to kingdom come...A simple microwave transmission could set it all off...

"Giles' idea, I'd bet..." Nemesis smiled wanly...

Rel...Real...(Relatively?...Warren asked politely...Yeah...she narrowly glared) painless...At least compared to what Willow would do to me...

"But Will and I expected that...And we have some ideas..." she looked at Warren...

Leave it to us...Pops...she smiled...

"We just need a little few details about the main lab's layout...And there's one thing we need to borrow from you..."

Alternate Earth, the Mears Corporation, main foyer security area...

Xander waited by the master security desk, watching several of the bank of cameras and internal building sensors...With two of the five Hunters remaining in the complex back from their patrol of the building, standing next to him...All but them...And a handful of Council/Corporation security personnel pulled out...

"Xander?..." one Hunter politely asked, waiting...He turned to her...

"The temperature sensors in level five, corridor A just triggered..."

He looked...A flash of red lights...Then black...One camera showed a blurry flash then dead...Along with several others in the corridor...

Nemesis...

"Xander...?...William?..." the Hunter pointed to another camera...From far up corridor C of level five...Just turned to try and catch a glimpse where A corridor merged...

A distant, faint view of...Will?...At the far opposite end...He turned away and disappeared from the camera, hurrying...

Following her, Xander sighed...

Sensors and cameras went dead over a large section of level 4...She must've smashed the emergency power line as well as the main...On Warren's advice, most likely...

They were now both in the building...Probably Mears as well...

It was time...

"Buffy...Call your sisters and tell them we're evacuating...Now..." Xander turned to the first Hunter...

"I don't think so, Xan..." William called from the hall...Between the security desk and the front exit...Nemesis beside him with two human Council guards in her grip...

Xander whirled round...The Hunters at his side in defense mode...

Came by the air ducts...After she patched in a phony feed to the cameras and sensors...Will explained...Courtesy of ole Warren's schematic files...And my knowledge of the place...

"Hey, Xander..." Nemesis smiled to him...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XVII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XVII...

Alternate Earth...The Mears Corporation...Main foyer security area...

Xander and his Hunters and several human security personnel faced the newly arrived Nemesis and William...She holding two human prisoners...

"Will?..." he eyed Walthrop... "You're helping her now?...After all she's done...?"

"What I have done...?" she stared at him...But stopped as William interrupted...

"You knew what I was about when I left you and Dawn, Xan...Don't lets play games...You know I'm sorry to let you lot down but she's all I have left of Buffy...And there it is..."

Lets keep this sociable, my friend...he continued...

"You and your ladies and the rest head out...Now...And we'll be on our way...There'll be no more trouble..."

Minus your remote for the bombs round here, of course...he noted...Nemesis nodding with a smile...Yeah...

"Please...Xander..." he finished...A honest plea in his eyes... "We don't want to hurt you or anyone else..."

Well...he eyed Nemesis... "I don't want to hurt you...And she's promised me, if it can be avoided..."

"I don't want to hurt you, Xander..." she chimed in...

"Pledge of good faith, Xan..." William motioned to Nemesis who released one of her humans...Who ran for the front door behind them...

Xander was quiet...Thoughtfully watching...One hand to his face...

"Will..." he sighed... "What do you expect me to do...?...You know I can't just let you two go..."

As he managed to lower his other arm and reach his hand down to his emergency beeper, signaling the other Hunters on patrol in the building...And triggering an alert to the Council offices in London...

He rubbed his chin and looked at them...Nemesis smiling gently, never more Buffy...Holding the remaining guard firmly...

"You must know I can blow this place before even you two could reach me..." he noted to Will...Who nodded...

"The reason you're not already being escorted out the door by her...In one piece..." William replied...

"Is it so much to ask, Harris?...Just give us a chance...We'll be gone..."

"And she'll be off to tear somebody else's world apart?..." he eyed Nemesis who frowned a little...

Xander?...her irritated glare said...

"She's promised to try and control herself...In the new place...Mears has agreed to try and help..." Will told him...She nodding slightly...Yeah...

"And you believe her...And Warren Mears...?" Xander stared...Playing for time...

"I believe she wants to try...And I want to give her the chance...She has a soul, Xander...Buffy's soul is there...Fighting..."

"I can't take that chance, Will...Not after what's happened here...And we've been over this before as to helping her...Willow and Giles were sure no changes could be made..."

"Mears has been able to make alterations in his own..." Will began...

Two Hunters emerged from a rear stairwell, a third from down the hall...

"Hold it, ladies!..." William called to them...They halted...Eyeing Xander for orders...

"Xander, call them off...They can't fight her in any case...And they're pre-trained to follow my orders...You can't have gotten all that out of them so quickly...It won't be pretty if you try to use them..."

"Wait...All of you..." Xander told them...

William pulled a cell phone...Punching it...

"Warren?...How goes it...?"

He listened and hung up...Turning to Nemesis who waited expectantly...

"We'd best go down...He's in and ready to start setting things up...Wouldn't want him to leave without us..."

She nodded...

"Will...?" Xander called to him... "I will blow the place if you go back down..."

"Not from here, Xan..." Will smiled at him...

"Ole Warren's found your frequency, thanks to that signal to England you just put out...He's jamming your transmitter...You want to blow the place, you'll have to set the individual timers...Which oughta take you about an hour on the upper levels...If you're wise enough to avoid the ones where we are..."

"Lets go, pet..." he smiled at Nemesis who nodded...

"Bye, Xander..." she waved... "Give my best to Willow, Dawn, and Giles..."

They moved to the side of the hall, a stairwell down...She dragging her remaining prisoner...

"Don't do this, Will...For Dawn's sake..." Xander called to him...

"I can't help it, Xan...Tell the Nibs..." he began...Pushing the door open and holding it for Nemesis who passed him...Still dragging the guard... "Tell her someday...Maybe she'll understand..."

"She does..." Xander eyed him...

Will paused, a grateful look back...Thanks, his faint smile said...

"Send this hell-hole to kingdom come, Harris..." William called back to him... "Even if we don't make it...Don't let anyone try to do this to her again..." he hurried through the door...

Xander stared at his transmitter...Probably true but...He pressed the emergency transmit test...Nothing...

"Try reaching Vice-Chairman Giles...Tell him what's up and patch him though to me asap..." he turned to another human guard...

"Come on ladies, we have some work to do..." he turned to the Hunters...Who gathered round him...

"Oh...Warren...It's wonderful..." A Katrina beamed at alternate Earth's "savior" in response to his rather loaded... "Isn't it something...Girls...?" as he fired up the first test of the Gateway main ring...In appearance a series of large flat metallic hoops stacked in sequence parallel to the ground...Around which a rather eerie internal lightening display was now playing...

Of course it was unfortunate that one had to fall through the main ring to the destination point...Particularly when a slight deviation in coordinates could put one say, 10,000 feet above the surface of the destination world...But gravity was an essential component in the interdimensional portal...

Hmmn...He frowned at the group of duly awed Katrinas and two Hunter prototypes...Only his dear clone offspring displaying an ability to independently appreciate his handiwork...

Nice...Clone Warren sniffed...You've improved the harmonic oscillation of the individual EM fields...But you're a long way from the finish, ole pal...

"At this rate you better hope our partners come through...Or we'll all be making an exit shortly...In one big massed ball..." he noted...

Our Nemy will deal...Warren eyed his counterpart...Have a lil' faith...

"And how's about getting off your ass and helping me here...For the sake of our Mearsian line..."

"Lucky for you, you're the Original, schmuck..." clone Warren sneered at him, the Katrinas duly horrified...But set to work...

The Mears line must be preserved, after all...

And it was always possible dear ole 'Dad' wouldn't survive to make it to the great leave-taking...Forcing dear ole descendant Warren-4 to shoulder the responsibility of carrying the Mears name and genes on...

"Xander?..." The face of Vice-Chairman Giles on secure portable videophone...

"Hi, Giles..." he sighed... "Things aren't going so well here...We did get Warren's stuff out and most of the Hunters are taking it to LA for destruction..."

But...he frowned...

"Will and Nemesis..." Giles finished...

"Yeah...They're here...With Warren...And they've blocked my signal...I can't detonate remotely..."

"Do you need help?...Should I call Willow in and have her do a teleport?..."

No...Xander shook his head at the screen...Not Willow...Not yet, anyway...

"She'd kill herself as well as them in her present state, Giles...No...We're resetting the charge timers manually...When half the level 2 timers are running, that should be enough to set off the rest...Then the whole place will go..."

"That'll take an hour at least...To reach all of them..." Giles noted..."They'll be off-world by then..."

Xander paused...

"Xander...They mustn't leave our world...Nemesis can't be allowed to wreak havoc on another Earth in Buffy's form, using her name...We can't take that chance, for Buffy's sake at least..."

Yeah...I know...he replied...

"There's one other option...We'll have to get down to level 4 and set the timers or disrupt Warren's jammer..."

"I always wanted to try a teleport spell, Giles..." he smiled at the viewscreen... "Even if you and Willow never had much faith in my magics ability..."

"Xander..." Giles stared at him... "I'll come...I'll do it..."

No...Xander shook his head...Not all the way from England to a lab four levels underground...

"I love ya like a dad, Rupert...But you don't have that much power and even if ya could get access to it in time..." he paused, grinning... "You couldn't hit a dart board from ten feet away..."

"You'd wind up half-embedded in the basement floor...And I won't let Willow destroy herself...Not unless we fail and there's no other way..."

He paused...Giles hastily grabbed the chance...

"Dawn needs you, Xander...You're all she has left, really..."

"I'll try to get out, Giles...Maybe even get Will somehow...But if I don't make it...Willow will get over things in time...You'll be there...Dawny will be fine..."

I can't let this go on, Giles...I failed Buffy once...he sighed...

"I have to try this time...For her sake...And An's..."

"All right..." Giles nodded... "But I will come as soon as I can..."

"Thanks...Rupert..." Xander smiled... "Better let me get a recorder...You know me and spells..." he grinned...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...Xander Harris' apartment...

Xander sat, clutching a mug of the vile stuff he chose to call coffee, at his kitchen table...William having finished preparing his own favorite tea, came over and took a chair...

"I guess...It would be fair to say..." William paused, eyeing his roomie... "You have a few issues with what's been going on with Summers and me..."

Issues?...Xander blinked at him...You thing from Hell...You mass murderer...

You lucky bastard...he sighed inwardly...

You one bright spot in my poor Buffy's miserable life these past two years...Damn...

God...I had to have been there that time she was invisible...Seen her so happy with you, she didn't even try to conceal it...

Beyond the being invisible and all...

Even if I did block the whole thing out then...And for weeks afterward...

Much as I wanna stake you here and now...Soul or no...I've seen you make her happy...Damn...

"Nah..." he looked up at the Slayer's intended...

"If Buffy's happy that's all I care about..."

Of course...The second she's no longer happy...

"I dust..." Will finished, grinning...

"Absolutely..." Xander nodded...

He put down his cup...Looking at a picture of Anya on the refrigerator...

"I know what you've been though, William...I'm trying to understand...I want to...But you hafta understand...It ain't easy...Even with all you've done for her and us...Soul or no soul..."

"I'm sitting with the blood of more than 40,000 people on my hands, Harris...I can see where there might be some reservations on your part..."

You being the good brother and all...he smiled...

"On the other hand...You're a good choice from a practical pov...You can fight with her...You know as much or more than Giles at least about some of the supernatural mumbo-jumbo...You'll be in good health and able to protect her when she's ill or getting up there..." Xander eyed him carefully...

"And she hasn't been this happy since Joyce died...For that alone, I've held my stake...Even when I thought you might be acting for the First..."

"Glad to know you've grown a brain, Harris...Try and keep it up..." Will grinned...

"She needs you...Always will...Whatever I come to mean to her...She'll always need her brother..." he gave him a wry smile...

"So will I, at that..."

Xander blinked a bit...

"In fact...Xander..." Will began carefully...

"Oh...No..." Xander waved a hand...

"What?..." William looked at him...

"I'm not donating any sperm...Not even for Buffy..." he showed a set and resolute face as he sat...

Sperm?...

"Hell, lad...I wanted to ask you to be my bloody Best Man...Where the hell did you get that damned fool idea in your head...?"

Freudian slip, big-time, eh...Big Brother...? he grinned at the crimsoning Xander...

"Course, Xan...Whereas Buf and I aren't legal yet...I could speak to her...I'm an open-minded sort...And I'm sure she'd be happy to help you get over this little problem...Release all that tension, so to speak..."

Jesus!...Xander jumped...Spike!...What the hell!...

"You're marrying her!...For Christ..." he paused, staring...As Will grinned...

"Kinda settling in there, at last...Isn't it...?"

Now as to the bachelor party...Ole pal...

The Brooding One's a definite must invite...he grinned...

Angel...? Hmmn...Now there's an interesting picture...

"Absolutely...Wouldn't have it any other way..." Xander grinned back...

Alternate Earth...Underground lab level of the Mears Corporation...

William and Nemesis paused after opening the stairwell door to the level four lab complex...Now minus the other guard, safely released...Not far from where Warren and his clone, surrounded by a group of Katrinas and prototype Hunters, were hard at work...

"We'd best cover the corridor separately..." Will noted... "I'll look in on ole War and co...You cover the other half...Then lets try the third level..."

You're ready for Xander?...You can handle it?...he eyed her...She nodded...Yeah...No problem...She hesitated...

"Ok...William...?" Nemesis looked at him...

"It will be ok, right?..." she paused...

Yeah...he nodded...Taking and squeezing her hand...

"It will turn out right in the end, Buffy...That I can swear...At least in Eternity, it will all turn out right...Love..."

She nodded and hurried down the hall...

Well...? Xander struggled to his feet...The four Hunters likewise a bit dazed...

In one piece, on level three...Not too shabby for one's first teleport spell, he thought...

"You ok, ladies...?...Check your gear?...Ready to use it?..."

Yeah, Xander...In chorus, beaming...All four as well as himself well-armed, including reasonably powerful hand grenades...

"All right, then..."

They made their way cautiously to the main stairwell...And began descending...The Hunters watching every conceivable attack point...And him...

A door opened at the level four exit...William...He looked up to them...Shook his head and closed the door, locking it...

"Buffy?...The door, please open it..." Xander eyed the Hunter nearest the door...Who hurried down and smashed at it...It popped open and they raced through...

"Stop!..." Will called to them...Four Katrinas at his side...Armed...

From the lab ahead, Xander could see flashes of playing light...Warren and his Gateway, no doubt...

And a stand-alone console just outside that lab...With readouts, well lit...The remote transit control...Just as Giles had described it to him...

The clone Mears and three more Katrinas emerged from the lab...Taking in the situation quickly, he moved to the protection of the Katrinas...

"Walthrop!...The console!..." he shouted, pointing...

"Buffy..." Xander turned to the nearest Hunter, pointing at the control console... "Destroy that..."

The Hunter dutifully pulled a grenade...And threw...A Katrina smashed it back down the lab corridor...It exploded, shaking the corridor...Knocking most of the clones and Xander to the ground...William gripping to the wall next to him...

A loud shout from within the lab...Damn!...Walthrop!...What the hell!...Warren's voice, Xander recognized as he was helped up...The Hunters keeping him their top priority, ignored the console for a moment...

"Go back, Harris!..." William shouted to him... "For the last time...And before she catches you..." More Katrinas and a Hunter emerged from the lab doorway...

Xander's Hunters moved to defend him...But eyed William with some confusion...

"Ladies...Take Mr. Harris to surface...He's in danger..." Will told them sternly...

They eyed Xander...

"That console..." he tried again, pointing...

The Katrinas round William and now the console as well, pulled sub-machine guns... "Wait..." he called to them...

"Harris...?"

"We hafta go to surface, Xander..." one of his Hunters noted...

William says to...

"William is in violation of Council directives, Buffy..." Xander told her...

A trigger-happy Katrina fired...

"Damn you!..." Will screamed... "Stop that...!"

One of Xander's Hunters staggered and collapsed...

"Go back!...Now!..." Will yelled to Xander...

"Xander!..." one of the Hunters stared at him...The others still looking at their dying sister...

"Back...Go back..." he waved to them...And closed the door...

Will waved the others to hold their positions and rushed over to the fallen Hunter...Still shaking in her death throes...

"Buffy..." he knelt beside her...

"I'm here, dear heart..." he took the Hunter's hand as she whimpered in pain...William...? she whispered...

"It's all right, Buffy...William is here...Always..." he stroked her hair as she died...Breathing his name...

"What should we do, Xander...?" one of the Hunters stared at him in the stairwell where he'd paused to write down the numbers he'd seen on the console...The new Earth coordinates, very likely...

"Back to level three...Hurry..." he told the two...

They hastened up the stairs and emerged...He stopped and tore off the strip of paper he'd written the coordinates down on...

"One of you has to get this..." he began...

"Xander!..." one of the Hunters pointed...

"Hi, Big Brother..." Nemesis grinned at him...Moving carefully down from an office door...

Nemesis...He nodded...

"Buffy..." she frowned at him... "Don't ever call me anything but..."

And here I was...Glad to see ya again...

He stared at her...Grenade in hand...

"But...You're still upset about Anya, I suppose..." she sighed...

I didn't want to hurt her, you know...

"Can't you guys see how I feel about all this?..."

Yeah...he nodded...And threw the grenade...

She dodged nimbly and swatted it back at him...Before it could detonate...

But the Hunters now raced to his aid...One throwing him down and covering him...One taking a defensive position in front of him...The other grabbing and slam-dunking the grenade back at Nemesis...

She stared and reared back...But just this once, not quite fast enough...

The detonation caught her full in the face, blowing her body back across the lab...Instantly killing the other Hunter who'd caught and thrown the bomb as well...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XVIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XVIII...

Nemesis lay still...The remaining Hunters standing by her, lifting her arms and turning her over...Both having insisted Xander stay back and call for more assistance...

No good, he noted, after trying his phone...Jammed...

"I've got to stay til this is done, Buffy..." he noted... "But one of you should go...Tell the others to leave as soon as their timers are set..."

"Xander...?" they eyed him...

"I'll leave as soon as I can...Thanks..."

"Buffy H-34 is smarter..." Buffy H-14 noted... "She should go..."

"Right..." he nodded...

"I'll be back...ASAP..." Buffy H-34 agreed... "Take care of Xander, Buffy..." she headed for the stairs...

He came towards the heap by Buffy H-14...

"I think she's dead, Xander..." she called to him...He turned to the third Hunter, sprawled on the floor...No chance, he saw immediately...

Poor Buffy...the surviving Hunter sighed, turning Nemesis over...Oh...She backed away as she saw the blasted face...She turned and vomited suddenly...

He moved carefully over to them...

"I'm sorry Buffy...Are you alright?..." he turned to the Hunter who nodded wanly...

Sorry...she shook her head...

She's all gone...the Hunter stared at him...Oh...She looked back at her Hunter "sister"...Gone as well...

"It's all right, Buffy..." he patted her...

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?..." he asked her gently... "Or call one of your sisters...?"

No...I'm ok...she shook her head...I wanna stay and watch out for you, Xander...

A buzz from his phone...Interference must be lifting, he noted...Buffy H-14 nodding in agreement, though cluelessly...

Ok...he smiled at her...And pulled out his cell phone...

"Xander?..." a Hunter's voice... "This is Buffy H-17 at the main desk..."

"Are you alright?..."

Yeah...he told her...

"But how did you reach me?..."

"Giles is on the other line...He can tell you..." the Hunter paused, Giles came on...

"Xander...? We've found a frequency Mears isn't blocking yet...Are you in range of her...And the others...?"

Yeah, Giles...he sighed...Looking sadly at Nemesis' shattered body for a second...

"I'm... "In range..."..."

We got her...he explained...A grenade in the face...How're they doing with the charges...?

A pause on the phone...

"Giles...?"

"Twenty minutes, Dobson claims..." the Vice-Chairman's voice was steady...

"She didn't suffer...Giles..."

"I only wish that were true, Xander..." a quiet reply...

"All right...We can finish up here...I can set the remaining charges with my transmitter after I set the new frequency...Tell the others to get moving...Don't wait for us..."

"Set them for fifteen minutes, no less...And you get moving too, Mr. Harris..." Giles ordered...

"In a mo..."

"Will won't come, Xander...He'll stay with her...Dead or alive..."

"Gotta give it one try, Rupert..." he switched back to an anxious Buffy H17...

"Buffy...Tell your sister Buffy H-34 when she reaches you not to come back down, just go with you...Then both of you leave..."

"But...?" Buffy H-17 asked...Rather anxiously...

"I'll be along in a moment..." he replied... "I'm alright...And Buffy H-14 is with me..."

Just one last thing to do...For all of you, Buffy...he thought...Staring at the Hunter...

"Come on, Buffy..." he patted her as she looked again at Nemesis...

Poor Buffy...she sighed, turning to him...

"Was she very bad?..."

No...he shook his head...

"Just lost...And confused...We were the ones who were bad..."

She stared at him...

"I don't understand, Xander...I'm sorry..."

I know...he nodded...

"And I'm sorry for that...My Buffy..."

He pulled out his microwave transmitter...Time to put an end to this...Or at least start to...He set Giles' frequency and began entering the timer codes...Moving along the hall back towards the stairwell with Buffy H-14 in tow...

"Isn't William coming with us...?" the Hunter asked suddenly as they reached the entrance to part of the upper lab complex...

"I'll try to call him as soon as I finish this..." he replied kindly...

"I hope he'll come..."

All the level's charge timers were now open on his transmitter...Just a matter of entering the time desired and starting countdown...He paused...And reached for his cell phone...

"Press redial on this number, Buffy...Please...?" he handed it to her...

Give it to me if Will answers...She pressed redial as he continued entering timer settings...

"William...? This is Buffy...Xander wants to talk to you..."

Here...She offered the phone...

And grabbed the transmitter from his other hand in a rush...He stared at her...

Nemesis...he realized...

That other, no doubt one of Mears' better prototypes...

He was down before he could reach for his stun gun...Which Nemesis threw across the room as she tossed him back against the near hallway wall...She hastily rekeyed the timer instructions she'd watched him enter...

Big words might be an occasional problem, courtesy Warren's charming sense of humor...But there was nothing wrong with her ability to memorize at a glance...

"William?...Xander's charges are set to go in thirty minutes starting...Now...Be ready for me..." she hung up and turned to face him...

He lay on the floor, struggling oddly...As if he couldn't quite get his legs to work, she noted to herself...A brief wave of remorse swept over her...My poor Xander...Just doin' his duty, as always...

Like when he agreed to...Her features hardening...

Up...she moved on him... "Get up..."

He raised himself on his arms to look at her...But the pain of the effort overwhelmed him and his head fell back as he groaned...

"Xander?..." she gasped... "Are you alright?..."

It wasn't so much the pain that made the tears run a bit...As the genuineness of the concern in her voice as he stared up at her...

"I can't move..." he sighed...

"My back must be broken..."

"I'll help you..." she gently cradled and lifted him, as he made the briefest of efforts to resist, then fainted...

She carried him as carefully as she could down to an open room...And brought him in...Still unconscious...

Moving back away...She looked him over silently...Then looked at a scrap of paper in her hands...From his pocket...Taken out by her along with everything else he'd had there...

The new Earth coordinate settings...she realized...Sighing...

She dragged him over to the wall, resting him carefully against it, propping his useless legs to support him in a sitting position...Moving back swiftly, she took a quick look out the door as he opened his eyes and tried to fumble through his pockets for anything...Cell phone, dart gun, microwave transmitter, pistol...Stake...All removed by her as she'd carried him over...She came back in and shook her head at him...

Xander...she sighed...

"You won't find anything and you'll hurt yourself trying to move around like that...Lie still..."

"They'll find you pretty quickly after we leave..." she smiled... "And they can do wonderful things with neurogenetic repair these days..."

I oughta know...she grinned...

"You didn't use to be a liar, Buffy..." he sighed at her...As she came over close to him and knelt beside him...

Really...? Nemesis stared at him...Her eyes looking into his, but hooded somehow...Her expression unfathomable...Then, she smiled, an old, warm Buffy smile...The kind that used to make it all worthwhile for him...

"Actually, Xander...Just between us, Big Brother...I did do my share of lying in my day, back in the before time...But it's neat that you think of me that way...A girl likes to be put on a pedestal every now and then...And you always did..." she patted him...

"I do want you to know...I would've let you go...If you hadn't seen the coordinates for the new Earth...But I can't let you tell Giles or Willow, you know that...And I know you'd feel you had to tell them..." she gave a stare somehow harsh and gentle at the same time...

I know that, he nodded...Looking her full in the face...

"And I think...You'd be happier with Anya...Right?"

"If she'd still have me...Yes..."

Nemesis beamed...Xander...She took his hand in hers...

"She's waiting for you in Heaven...I'm sure of it...'Less she decided she'd better come back to keep an eye on you, like I did for Will...But it's too soon for that I think..."

"I'm sorry Xander..." she paused..."But I'll be good to your counterpart and his Anya on new Earth...I'll fight off what Warren did to me...And I'll be their Buffy again, keeping them safe...I promise you...On my mom's soul..."

"I hope..." he paused, staring at her... "I hope you find what you're looking for, Buffy...God knows we gave you little enough...And the blame is ours..."

She patted him again...Gotta get moving...she smiled at him...

I forgive you, Xander...she told him quietly...Giving him a brief kiss, she killed him with a quick snap of his neck and his body slipped back onto the floor...

She pulled his head into her lap, stroking his hair...

"Tell Anya...I'm sorry...And I do love you...Always...Brother..." she gave him a last kiss on the lips, laid his head gently back down, and rising, left quickly through the hallway door...

Stopping for one last moment...She turned back to him...

"I promise..." she breathed to him...Turned and hurried back down the corridor...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XIX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XIX...

New Sunnydale, normal Buffyverse...The Magic Box next day...

"somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

any experience,your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,

you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skilfully,mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and

my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility: whose texture

compels me with the color of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens; only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands" [ee cummings]

Buffy gave a sheepish look as William grinned at her...Glasses perched on the edge of his nose as he stood by the counter of the Magic Box, decked out in the new suit she'd bought him during her shopping spree the other day...

He closed the book... "Not as good as yours the other night..." he began...

"But I couldn't begin to come close to it myself..."

"Knock it off, honey..." she frowned... "So...You knew ee cummings...?" she eyed him...

Yeah...he nodded...

"Spike had lots of time on his hands days in his crypts...And we occasionally managed to calm the ole murder lust enough to get in a little quiet reading..."

"And you knew I didn't write that poem...?" she sighed...

Yeah...But...

"I know it's the poem you would've written if you could've..." he beamed at her... "Your guilty secret's safe with me...Though I'm afraid Red and Giles knew..."

She looked away...

"I never looked up poems for any other guy..." she offered...

"Will you read the other one?...In front of Angel when we visit them while we're in LA?..." he grinned...

Absolutely...she grinned back...

"Then I am content...Dearest..." he beamed...

"Though it'll probably be lost on him..." she noted... "For an Irishman, he's not really the poetic type..."

Kennedy entered the shop...Willow on arm...

"How'd the buying expedition go...?" Buffy called...

They looked at each other...Oh, yeah...There was a practical reason we were out together for four hours...

"Eh..." Willow shrugged... "Those guys just had kids' trinkets...A coupla of idols conferring a little temporary shape-shifting ability, a love potion that makes you smell like garbage for days when it wears off...I coulda had Jonathan check them out..."

But...She eyed her companion...Wouldn't've been as much fun for him...Goin' and comin'...she grinned...

"Ummn...I mean..." she eyed Buffy and William as they smiled at her... "We're together...A couple...You understand, right?..."

Kennedy looked a bit... C'mon Rosenberg

"Yeah..." Buffy nodded... "We've been getting that...But...Congrats..." she smiled at Kennedy...

Ya couldn't get a nicer girl...

Absolutely...William chimed in...

Giles looked out from his office...Ah, Willow...

"All right, Buffy...William...If you and Willow would step in a moment..." he waved to them...

Hmmn?...Willow looked at them...

"Just some business to settle, Wil..." Buffy explained... "If you're ok with it...As Giles' new partner and all..."

Oh...?

"Kennedy...?" Buffy turned to her...

"You mind watching the counter ten minutes or so...?...We won't be long..."

Ummn...?...Kennedy eyed Willow who shrugged...

"No...No problem..." she went over...Willow following...Be right there...she waved to Buffy as the Slayer and her intended went into Giles' office...

Willow...Kennedy was hissing...How the hell does this register work?...I never had a job in my life...

"My sheltered lamby..." Willow teased, clucking as she gave a quick lesson...And reminded her girl to serve customers, not order them around...

"What's up in there...?...Some new Drusilla battle plan?...Or somebody new in town?..." Kennedy looked at Giles' door...

"I dunno know...God, I hope it's just Dru...I was counting on a break with Firsty gone...We sure earned it..."

She headed over...And entered...

Giles at his desk...Looking rather...Chairmanlike?...Ummn...No...Actually rather...

Businesslike...

"Willow...? Any objections to the future Walthrops signing on as permanent employees...?...Will needs to be here as Buffy's Watcher in any case..."

I'd only be part-time of course myself...Buffy noted...

"I'm hoping to keep on with the counseling and all...Even if they don't need me to kill anything at the school for a while..."

Well...Willow grinned a bit...

"Mr. Walthrop's supernatural credentials and former college training I've heard about... Just what are your qualifications for retail work...Ms. Summers...?" she folded her arms...

"I can lift very heavy things..." Buffy noted solemnly...Even in my current slightly off state...

"And Mr. Walthrop will vouch for me as a good lil' worker in my day with him yesterday..."

He nodded...An excellent candidate...Ms. Rosenberg...

"You're biased..." Willow waved a hand at her new head clerk...

Gonna make me work for this, eh...Buffy grinned...Ok...

"As for work experience...I do counseling at Sunnydale High...And I've worked with customers at Doublemeat Palace...Can bang out a bill on their registers like nobody's business...60% correct, most of the time..."

I did work an afternoon here before...But maybe that's best forgotten...she looked away...

"We'll overlook that episode...Extenuating circumstances..." Giles noted...

"And I'm good at ridding places of unwanted pests..."

No fighting in the shop...Willow and Giles both hastily replied...Quite serious on that one...

"Very well..." Willow grinned... "Mr. Giles, if you are in agreement...And since I don't dare leave Kennedy alone out there a minute longer..."

Hold it...Buffy shook her head...

"Lets talk salary...Benefits...Time off..."

You can go help Kennedy, honey...I'll handle this end for both of us...she turned to William...

"Things could get ugly...You'd probably prefer not to see..." she smiled...Giving a brief kiss...

Absolutely...he nodded...To his poor Bosses, slaughtered lambs that they were, he noted...And left...

Buffy gave them a careful, Slayer stare...All kidding aside...And much as I luv ya, guys...

Business is Business...And she'd learned to appreciate the hard practicalities...Not that she'd go too rough...Just...Hey, quality staff here...Even if the Council will be giving Will a hefty paycheck... College to pay for...House repairs...Maybe infertility clinic later on...That in vitro fertilization costs, I hear...

Willow and Giles looked at each other...Hmmn...She kinda looks like she's...In Slayer mode...

"Well...?" Buffy eyed them...Coolly...

Alternate Earth...The main lab at Mears Corp...

Warren stood near the stack of rings of the Gateway portal...Now with waves of electromagnetic energy moving along each metallic hoop and mingling with the one below...

"I think we'd best move to the remote console now..." he noted to the remaining Katrina by his side...Who nodded...

"That is...If all's clear now out there...?" he looked anxiously out the lab door...She hurried over to check...

William remaining by the dead Hunter, had placed the other guards at the stairway doors and at various points along the hall...He was speaking on the phone as the Katrina came over...Warren's clone by the console, but still keeping two Katrinas at his side...

Braver than the original, perhaps...But a relative thing...

"Yeah..." William nodded in response to the Katrina's question... "Tell our genius he can come out now...His daughters are gone...Nemesis is..."

A knock on the stairwell door... "William?..." she smashed it open...Knocking a watchful Kat back...

Oh...Sorry...she eyed the fallen Katrina...The other guards clustered defensively...

"It's ok, ladies..." Will called to them... "Stand down...It's Buffy Nemesis..."

She frowned a bit...

"I hate that name, Will...Promise me you won't use it on new Earth...?" she smiled plaintively...

"If you're Buffy there..." he eyed her... "There'll be no need..."

She nodded...

"Xander?..." he stared at her...She looked down...

"I didn't want to hurt him..." she began...

He rubbed his head...

"He saw the coordinates, Will...He'd've told Giles and Willow..."

He was too hurt to get out before the bombs would've killed him...It's better this way...she tried as he looked at her...

"He didn't suffer...And he's with Anya now..." she finished...

"Will...?" she eyed him... "William, please...?" she pleaded...As he looked down the hall where the rest of the clones were watching the opposite stairway...

"I never said I wouldn't do whatever it took...I only said I'd try not to hurt him..."

"Is that how it'll be on new Earth, Buffy...?...You'll try not to hurt them...?"

"I swore on Mom's soul, William..."she paused... "To you and to Xander..."

I won't let ya down...she eyed him...But if I break my word...You can...Do whatever you...

"Don't...Please, Buffy..." he looked at her...

"Just...Understand...If Warren can't help you...If you can't handle things...I may have to choose sides on new Earth..."

"You won't hafta Will...I won't fail you..." she patted him...

You'll see...Baby...It'll be like before...Even better...Cause we'll be together...

"Yeah..." he nodded...

"Whatever happens...That's one thing that never changes...In the end, we're always together...That I can promise you, Buffy..."

"Then...What else matters, huh...?" she hugged him a bit as Warren, informed by his returned Kat as to security, emerged cautiously from the lab...

"Well...Poppa...?" she released Will and looked over at him as he moved to the console where his clone was checking readouts... "We're on a tight sche...she...(schedule?...William kindly asked...Yeah...she sighed...)..."

"Almost ready..." Warren nodded, reviewing the clone's data...

Aboveground, outside the Mears Corporation, a group of Council and Corporation security personnel waited with the small group of remaining Hunters...Buffy H-17 on the videophone to Vice-Chairman Giles...

"Xander's not back yet with Buffy H-14...Giles?..."

"You and the others must pull back, Buffy..." he insisted gently to her... "Put Mr. Dobson on the line and have everyone else go to the cars...Head for the safe locations I've specified..."

"Xander...? William...?" she paused...

"If they can come...They'll come...Get Mr. Dobson, please..."

He sat back in his chair...Eyeing the photo on his desk...The old gang...The only real family he'd had since Mother and Father passed on...His children, all...The only ones he'd ever have...

All gone now but for Xander, Willow, and Dawn...He knew William would never leave the complex, whether Nemesis truly was dead or not...And Willow perhaps lost as the rest...

Music played in the background...Willie's bar...er Club...Musicians...And Nemesis singing...A tape she'd sent him just the other day...Rather proudly, it seemed, judging by her accompanying note...Eager to tell her other "father" all about her new "career"...And to leave a farewell, if as she'd claimed she hoped, they'd not meet again...

He eyed the glowing orb beside his desk...Taken by him, just a few minutes ago, from the Council vaults, at some considerable risk of detection...Unstable, but the only immediate source of enough power to get him to the Corporation...

Fifteen minutes...If Xander had finished setting the charges and started the timers immediately...

Dobson came on line...

"Sir...?...No word yet from Mr. Harris..."

"Yes..." Giles replied... "I think we should assume a possible disaster...But leave the area and head for the safe zone...I'll try to reach Mr. Harris myself..."

"Sir...? I don't think..."

He cut Dobson off with a curt order...Evacuate the last personnel...Now...And put the phone down...

Reading through the spell, he heard his secretary arguing with someone outside...Willow no doubt...

He concentrated...Almost set...

The song continued...

Play

"Falling in love again...Never wanted to...What am I to do?...I can't...Help it..." Nemesis' song on tape finished...

"Giles?...Was it good?...I did my best on that one...Oh, gotta go...I love you, Giles..." the tape stopped...

"Giles...?" Willow opened the door...His secretary following her, insistent...The Vice-Chairman was not avail...she began...Hmmn...They both looked round...No one...Willow eyed the orb beside the desk, now black and inert...

The Mears Corporation...Lab complex on level 4...

"We're ready..." Warren looked at his partners...

And just ten minutes to kaboom...he noted...

"After...You...Poppa..." Nemesis smiled sweetly at him...

He gulped slightly...Hastily rechecking the parachute on his back...A just in case item...

Turning to his clone and the Katrinas by the console...

"Bye fellas...Defend the console no matter what..."

Yeah...Sure...The clone Warren nodded...

"Try to keep our genes intact, moron..." he groused...

Schmuck...Warren gave a slight grin...

"You were the best of the lot, kid..." he smiled at him...

"Yeah, yeah...Try not to land on your head..." the clone frowned...

"Good luck, Warren..." the Kats chorused...

"C'mon Will..." Nemesis pulled at him...

He nodded and they followed Warren back into the lab...Grabbing the crates of equipment he'd specified as vital...

The other Katrinas and the one remaining prototype Hunter fell back...Under secret orders for at least one to try and make it through the portal...

Warren didn't expect much from their efforts...But hey, if one made it through...On the delayed wavefront the clone had set...

He just didn't think Nemy would be all that inclined to protect her dear ole pop...And after all the effort, surely he was entitled to try and secure a leetle protection...

"Warren!..." Giles appeared at the end of the corridor outside the lab...Glaring at clone Mears by the console as he rose to his feet...

"Giles?...Nice teleport..." the clone grinned back...

"Leetle late though...My original just went through...Nemy and Will too..."

A call from the lab... "What's up!..." Warren...

"Ok..." the clone sighed, a glance back... "I lied...But you are too late, Mr. Giles...Best to head back the way you came...Now..."

"A one-way trip, Warren..." Giles shook his head... "William!...Buffy!..." he called sternly...

Giles...Nemesis turned to Will within the main lab...Warren standing on the platform above the glowing stack of rings...A large portal open now...Trying to nerve himself up for the jump...

"Go, Warren!..." she cried...Pushing William along, she hurried up the ramp to the jump-off...

Giles outside the lab pulled a grenade...The Kats raised their guns, clustering round the console...

"Don't Giles..." the Mears clone called to him...

"Go!..." Nemesis hollered at Warren...He squeezed eyes shut and jumped...

Will looked at her...

"It's too late to help him get out..." she shook her head...Pausing as he stared at her...

All right...she nodded...

"I'll try...I'll ask him to come...Go!..." she pushed him...And he fell into the portal after Mears...She tossed the boxes after them...And went down, listening to firing outside...She raced out...

Just in time to catch Giles' grenade and toss it all the way down the hall, past him...

"Giles!..." she cried...The blast knocking him down...

She hurried to him...Dead...

"Giles...Giles..." she whispered... "Oh...I tried...Give me that much, Giles...I tried..."

Get ready...The Mears clone hissed to two Kats...Soon as she goes through...Find Warren when you get there, but don't let Nemesis see you...

"What was that...Mears...?" Nemesis was on him before he could look up...

My hearing...Enhanced, remember...? she grabbed the two Kats and killed them instantly...

"Never said anything about not killing you, clone..." she grinned...Tossing him down the hall...No miraculous escape for him this time...The others moved against her...She bit her lip...No time...She raced for the lab door...Throwing two more Kats back...

She ran up the portal, eyeing the vortex nervously...Gee...Just like...The other one...

Oh, well...I've been dead twice...And Will's there no matter what...

"Remember...Warren is dead if you touch that console, girls..." she called to the remaining clones rushing in now...They backed off a moment...Looking at each other...

One minute...Well...Now or never...

She jumped...

One Kat raced up after...Making a leap as the lab exploded...

LA, normal Buffyverse...Evening...

(Wonderful! Wonderful! -

-Words by Ben Raleigh and Music by Sherman Edwards)

[Play theme..."Wonderful, Wonderful..."]

"Sometimes we walk hand in hand by the sea...

And we breathe in the cool salty air.

You turn to me with a kiss in your eyes...

And my heart feels a thrill beyond compare...

Then your lips cling to mine...

It's wonderful, wonderful... Oh, so wonderful, my love.

Sometimes we stand on the top of a hill...

And we gaze at the earth and the sky...

I turn to you and you melt in my arms...

There we are, darling, only you and I.

What a moment to share...

It's wonderful, wonderful... Oh, so wonderful, my love.

The world is full of wond'rous things it's true...

But they wouldn't have much meaning without you...

Some quiet ev'ning I sit by your side...

And we're lost in a world of our own.

I feel the glow of your unspoken love...

I'm aware of the treasure that I own...

And I say to myself "It's wonderful, wonderful..."

"Oh, so wonderful, my love."

And I say to myself "It's wonderful, wonderful..."

"Oh, so wonderful, my love..."

Warren staggered to his feet...That first step he thought, groaning...

Walthrop on the ground beside him...Bit worse for wear...Hmmn...

"Spike...?" he cautiously called to him...The vampire opened his eyes, looking round groggily...

"Mears...? Where's...Buffy?..."

Hmmn...Rather like to know that myself, Mears thought...A bit nervously...He shrugged...

"Guys!..." Nemesis was racing up to them...They seemed to be on a hill...Above what looked like the lights of a city...

"Come and see!...Will, we made it!...We made it!..." she babbled ecstatically...Even a smile for Mears...Literally dancing for joy...

"We're in LA!...Will?..." she eyed him...As he sat up, looking rather dazed...

Nice to see her so happy...The thought suddenly crossed Warren's mind, startling him...

"Warren?..." she turned to him, her look accusing...He put up his hands slightly...Not my fault, lady...

"I think he took the trip a leetle harder..."

She knelt by Walthrop...Taking his hands...Looking in his eyes nervously...

"William?...You're all right?...I didn't mean to go off like that...I just wanted to check this while you and Warren came to..." she kissed him... "Oh, Will...We made it!..." she beamed again...

"Yes, pet..." he nodded...

"You're all right?..." she asked again... "Can you stand up?..."

Just a mo...He pulled himself to his feet...Wobbling as she gave him an arm and steadied him...Warren watching carefully...

"Don't go anywhere just yet...Pops..." she gave him a quick glance... "Our business isn't settled yet, remember?..."

Besides...she noted...Don't know how safe it is just yet...That might be Demon Town down there for all we know...

"I'm not planning to head out just yet..." he replied... "Just want to check my stuff...Ok?..."

She nodded...He went to the first crate...Good thing we packed it well...he noted...

Walthrop looked round a bit...Smilingly declining more support from her...

"Better now, Will?..." she asked, a bit anxious...

"Fine, love...Just fine...You?..." he looked her over...

"100% Buffy..." she grinned... "Ready to restart my Slaying career..."

"And my life...Both of them..." she came over to him..."Come and see,

Will...It's beautiful...Wonderful..." she put an arm round...

"I think we're near a garbage dump..." Warren sniffed... "Maybe on one..."

"Just stay where you are...Pops..." Nemesis glared at him... "Will and I are just gonna take a look-see..."

Wouldn't want you to get hurt... 'Dad'...she frowned... Or hafta hurt you...

"Not before I'm done with you anyway..."

"We have a deal..." Warren eyed her...

"So long as you keep it...And your new Earth is what you promised me..." Nemesis replied coldly...Dismissing him with a frown, she turned back to her feller...Still a bit wobbily...

"Ready, Will?...You're up for a walk?..." she looked at him...

Absolutely, love...he nodded wanly...

"Lets have a gander at this wonderful new world of ours..." he grinned...

They started down the hill, she supporting him...Warren watching...

Her voice came back up to him...Singing...

Is she singing what I think she's singing?...he thought...Rolling his eyes...

"It's wonderful, wonderful..." her voice floated back...

Poor kid...The involuntary thought crossed his mind...

My poor Nemy...Hope she finds...He pushed the thought aside and turned back to the crates...Considering...

Looks like Walthrop isn't doing so well after his little drop through the dimensions...Might be something useful in that...If I play my cards carefully...

Though no way am I trying anything til we know about this place...She might be right about the "Demon Town" thing...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XX...

(A Nightingale Sang in Beckley Square...

Written by Manning Sherwin and Holt Marvell)

[Play theme..."A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square..."

"That certain night, the night we met

There was magic abroad in the air

There were angels dining at the Ritz

And a nightingale sang in Beckley Square

I may be right, I may be wrong

But I'm perfectly willing to swear

That when you turned and smiled at me

A nightingale sang in Beckley Square

The moon that lingered over London town

Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown

How could he know we two were so in love?

The whole darn world seemed upside down

The streets of town were paved with stars

It was such a romantic affair

And, as we kissed and said goodnight,

A nightingale sang in Beckley Square

The streets of town were paved with stars

It was such a romantic affair

And, as we kissed and said goodnight,

A nightingale sang in Beckley Square

I know 'cause I was there

That night in Beckley Square..."

(Beckley is pronounced as "Barkley.")

"That's an English song, Will...I...Think...About England, anyway..." Nemesis noted shyly, leaning against him as they sat watching the lights of overwhelmingly human-populated...No doubt about it, following their quick hike down to the freeway below the hill...LA... "English...Like us..." she grinned...

"Indeed, pet..." he smiled gently... "And beautifully sung..."

Thank you...she beamed at him...

"William...?...Will you take me to London someday?...I wanta see if I remember our old hangouts...Cicely's and yours I mean..."

"Sure..." he nodded... "But different Earth, girl...Things might not be as it was in our London...And in any case, things had changed quite a bit from 1880 last time I was there...Your family's old townhouse was long gone..."

Oh...

"Say...?" she eyed him suddenly...

"What if you weren't vamped on this Earth?..."

He blinked at her...

"I couldn't've been stupid in every dimension..." she noted...

Maybe here Cicely had the brains to keep you safe...By her side...

It was possible...he thought...There might be no Spike, no soul-restored William on this Earth...

His counterpart and hers might well have lived and died happily...A century ago...

"But there was a Buffy here..." she finished his thought for him... "At least Warren says there was...And she died jumping into Glory's portal like I did...Unless he was lying..."

"Tough to do considering he wasn't there when you died..." Will noted... "But how did he get the dope on this world?...Send out some of his clones to take a peek or what?..."

She shook her head...Not sure...She looked a little sheepish...

"I was kinda anxious to make this work...I didn't ask too many questions once he told me about this place...Back when he and his clone thought I'd be oh so happy to be his girl..."

Will eyed her...She avoided looking at him...What a lovely night, even the smog's not so bad...she hastily noted...Less there's not much smog on this Earth...

I never did ask her...he thought...But a practical lass like Nemesis...Who was ready to do anything to get what she needed to get her life back...Well...

Probably a subject best left buried...And forgotten...With poor ole Dru...

Hmmn...Wonder if Dru's Dru here?...Or long and peacefully dead...Hope so, poor thing...

Specially if my Nemy decides to seek her out...With an eye to settling old scores...

Devoted girl, my Buffy-Cicely-Nemy...

"How's Warren doin'...?" she looked up the hill to where Mears was carefully opening and inspecting his crates of equipment...Clearly pleased to move to a different subject than her past relations with dear ole 'dad'...

"Mears!..." Will called up...

Yeah?...Warren looked down to them...

"Buffy wants to know how 'dad' likes new Earth!..." Walthrop yelled up to him, grinning...

"Lovely...Tell her just...Lovely...And I still think we're on a garbage dump..." Mears called back...

"We are, you know..." William eyed Nemesis...

Yeah...She shrugged...

"But who cares...William, we've made it...We're here..." she got up, exultant...He remained sitting...Smiling at her...

She looked down at him...He still looked...

"Will?...You don't look good...You need some blood or something?..."

"That's probably it, pet...A shot of O negative and I'll be rarin' to go..." he nodded...

"Well..." she scanned the area round them...Sniffing...

"I'll be back..." she headed off...

"Buffy!..." he tried to rise after her...She halted and turned back to him...

"Wait..." he struggled to his feet...

"No, Will...Just wait there...I'm faster alone...I'll find some vamp nest around here...Or a blood bank..."

"Buffy...You will be Buffy here, love?...You promise?..." he stared at her...

"I promised already...On Mom's soul..." she glared a bit at him...

"Buffy...I know you wouldn't mean to...But you have a way of not knowing your own strength, girl..." he looked at her carefully...

Please...

She relented a bit...

"Only vamps and demons...I won't even go near humans for now..." she nodded...Making a cross on her coat over her left breast...

"And hope to die..." she grinned... "Doesn't count with Mearsy of course..." she noted, glancing up the hill... "But then he ain't human...In my book, anyhow..."

Like us...she smiled at William...Blew him a kiss and raced off...

Dr. Mears watching from above...Like God on high...He noted to himself...Watching over his rebellious creatures...

Course in this case, Warren the God had forced the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge right down Eve's throat...

William sitting back down, hopelessly trying to keep a eye on her as she zipped down the hill...

"...Cause when [you] turned and smiled at me...

A nightingale sang in Beckley Square..." her words drifted up to him...

Odd...He thought...She never has trouble with words like "nightingale" when she's singing...

Must ask ole Mearsy about that...

Alternate Earth...By the ruins of the Mears Corporation...

Willow stood, dry-eyed, surveying the blasted remains...Several of the surviving Hunters now combing the rubble with Council staff...

A Council member of Observer status came up to her... "No signs of Walthrop or the Nemesis..."

"Here!..." a figure beside two Hunters waved...Dobson, Willow recognized...She walked over coolly, looking carefully to see what he was examining...A bundle...Or...Something...Brought up by the two Hunters...

"Nemesis!..." he called...Waving her and the others over...A group quickly clustering...

"They've found her body!..."

In what was left of the parking lot, a car pulled up...A young woman emerging from the right rear door...

Dawn, Willow quietly noted...Barely turning to register her...Ignoring her anxious, desperate wave...

Nemesis' sister's wave...Part of Nemesis...A darker black briefly came into the Wiccan's eyes...And faded...

A still recovering Wesley emerged from the left rear and hurried after Dawn...

"Willow!..." Dawn called...

Giles?...Xander?...

William?...

Willow ignored the calls, staring at the body...Reaching out...

No...she hissed...Eyes blackening...

Not this one...

"It's a Hunter...Must be one of Mears' girls..." she glanced at Dobson...Who stared at her dark face...

She calmed a bit...

"Nemesis and Walthrop have gotten away...To the other Earth...Thanks to Dr. Mears, I'm sure..." she noted...Thinking...

Dawn came over...Staring at the body...

"Is that...?"

No...Willow frowned, shaking her head...

"She got away from them...Probably killed them...Xander and Giles..."

Willow...Dawn stared at her...

"And took William with her...That bastard...Traitor..." Willow glared at the body...

Wesley came up...

"Dawn...Willow...Is that?..."

No...Willow frowned...And looked at Dobson...

"There must be something left...Some pieces of the Gateway system...Find them...Now..." she commanded...

"Willow...?...What are you gonna do...?" Dawn stared at her...

She gave a grim and terrible look...

"I'm gonna find my ole pal...Wherever she is...And rip the flesh off her bones..." she smiled coldly...

"She's got magics protection Willow..." Dawn noted...

"That won't stop me...Just make it a lot more painful for her..."

"Mr. Dobson!..." A Hunter called...Coming over...

"We found Warren...Holding on to this..." she held up part of the remote console... "Is this important...?"

"Bring that here!..." Willow called in a deep, stern, rage-filled voice...Eyes completely black now...

"Willow..." Wesley began...

Don't Wes...she waved him off and took the console piece from the Hunter...Lugging it away to a relatively clear spot...Wesley sighing at her, looking at Dawn...Talk to her...he hissed...

"Willow..?" Dawn headed over to where Willow was examining the control console...Nothing...No data left...

"Willow...I know how..." Dawn began...

"Be quiet, Dawn..." Willow cut her off...Dawn found herself quite content to be still...Eyeing her...

"There must still be some trace here...Something...I'll have to break it down and check for residual EM signatures...Try to reconstruct whatever's left of the console's memory system..." she looked at the quietly staring Dawn...

"But even if I find anything here...It might take years to find them...And more power than I'm likely to scrape up from the Council archives..."

But...She stared at Dawn intently...Dawn trying to move off but unable to...

Willow took her hand...Dear lil' Dawny...Buffy's sweet lil' sis...The lil' ball of energy made human...Made from good...Ole...Buffy...

From good ole Buffy...she smiled at her...

Nemesis...

Wesley was watching from where he stood with Dobson and two Hunters...Willow seemed calmer...

"Smile for our Wes, Dawny...Give him a nice, Dawny wave...All's well..." Willow smiled, whispering to her...

Dawn turned and gave a brief wave...A slight smile...Wesley waved back...Willow nodding to him...

"Please..."Dawn struggled to get the word out...

Please...? Please what...? Willow whispered back...

"Please...Buffy...Don't kill the only person who ever truly understood and loved Willow?...And the only people she still loved and cared for in this world?...Is that what you wanted to say?...Dawny...?"

Too late...Willow grinned...

"I think...You and I should go find that sister of yours...And give her a good talking-to...Don't you...?"

Willow?...Wesley called to her...Sensing things were not quite going...

Willow!...Dawn!...He watched in horror...The Hunters, sensing danger to Dawn, racing over...

Too late...As Willow plunged her hands, Glory-style into Dawn...Dawn glowing and dissolving into pure energy...Diffusing through Willow...Who glowed darkly and vanished...The console piece with her...

Willow!...Wesley screamed...The Hunters halting where she and Dawn had stood...Staring...

"Dawn?..." they called in helpless chorus...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XXI...

New Sunnydale, the evening of Nemesis' and alternate William's arrival in LA...

Doublemeat Palace #10114...Celebrating its grand reopening and the rebirth of New Sunnydale, CA with a two-fer special...That's two DP specials and fries, with soda...And remember...Offspring (of any species) eat free...

So long as it's not staff or patrons...

A grim-looking Robin Wood glared across the counter at new Assistant Manager Walthrop...Who, decked out in funny hat and red stripped shirt...Sighed at his self-appointed nemesis...

Jonathan Levinson, who'd left the booth where he'd been dining with SIT Brenda to come over and to once again offer his profuse thanks to the principal who'd more or less been the agent of his resurrection...Eyed both...Uncertain...

As was an anxious Buffy Summers...Who'd raced over from her post at the grill to ensure that there would be no disruption to the evening's shift...And her wedding plans...

"Robin...?" she gave a weak smile... "Nice to see you back...Long time no battle evil together...How was your vacation?...We've managed to keep things together at the school..."

Despite your axing me...Effective tomorrow...she thought...And, thanks for confirming it by email this am...

Buffy...he nodded coldly...Not taking his eyes off Walthrop...

"Nice to see you've both found work...And that you're keeping a close eye on our human-souled maniac here..."

"Well...?" William looked at him...Wood still staring with narrowed eyes at the object of his wrath...

"Jonathan?..." Buffy cheerily noted him... "Can I get you guys anything else...?"

Ummn...Jonathan looked at her...She clearly reaching for anything to break the tension...

"Principal Wood?..." he turned quickly to him...

Mr. Levinson...Wood nodded coolly...

Geesh...I'm long out of high school...Jonathan sighed to himself...Why do I have this urge to call him sir...?

"Just wanta says thanks again...For accidently getting my heart to restart back in that hole..." he smiled cautiously...William now looking at Wood with rather narrow eyes himself...

Hmmn...Maybe I should be...Jonathan thought...

"So...? Jonathan...?" Buffy hastily began a conversation...Trying to tamp things down... "You have any after-Death complications yet?..." she asked brightly... "Hi, Brenda..." she waved to Brenda at their booth...Who was watching the counter scene with interest... "Did Giles get your equipment all set...?...Sorry about the accident in the training room...I'm still a little under the weather..." Brenda nodded back...Fine, fine...Hmmn...

Wasn't that tall guy the Sunnydale High principal and demon fighter Buffy nearly beat the crap out of when he tried to kill William...?...Before he switched back to our side...?

Cute...Very...But look how Jonathan is standing up to him...Brenda thought loyally...

"See ya never can be sure after a resurrection...Even a quick heart restart like Jonathan's..." Buffy noted to Wood...Who gave her a slight, cold glance...

"And Lord knows I oughta..." she hesitated...Ummn...

"Well...Can we get you anything?..." William eyed the principal...Coolly...

"I'm...Thinking..." Wood replied...Looking up at the board...

"Take...Your...Time..." William gave a thin smile...

"Thanks..." Wood looked him in the eyes...

Am I hearing Clint Eastwood spaghetti western music?...Jonathan stared at the two confronting each other across the Doublemeat counter...

Buffy slightly annoyed now with both her soon-to-be-husband's and soon-to-be-former employer's attitude...Muy macho, guys, she glared...But the Slayer has done better on her lonesome...As you both oughta know...And will do so again in another minute if you two don't knock it off...

Of course...William didn't start this...I mean post-soul and all...And, hey...Who fired me as of tomorrow?...No money in the school budget, yeah sure...And nearly betrayed us to the First...?...she thought...Even if he did come through at almost the very end...And I mean the very end...

Her eyes narrowed now...

Wood blinked a bit at the double glare...Eyeing the grim-looking standard bearers of the Doublemeat Corporation...God, they really are a couple...But drew on his own inner reserves...Calling up the full force of an experienced high school educator...At Principal intensity...

Whoa, not bad...Buffy thought...But continuing her glare in support...William maintaining his in carefully measured fashion...Just that right level of cold stare-down...She noted rather proudly to herself... Not too harsh and flamey...Based on his century's experience in intimidation with Spike, no doubt...

Oh, crap...She noted several entering customers blithely headed for the counter...

Jonathan looked for a way out...But sighed to himself when Buffy gave him a quick, desperate glance...

Help...Her eyes pleaded as she looked at him, then Wood, finally Walthrop...

My God...he looked back sympathetically as Wood and Walthrop continued their glare contest...Peeking at William as well...

She really is with Spike now...I suppose seeing her all over him when we finished the First I should have known, but...Gee...

Still the pleading look...Well...

I do owe her...Still...he thought...

And how often does Buffy Summers need my help?...He held his ground by the counter, trying to smile at Wood...And not entirely unaware of Brenda's admiring eye on him from their booth...

And how often do I get to impress a Slayer-in-Training?...he thought happily...

"Make any new girlfriends recently...?...Spike...?" the principal finally broke the silence, grimly smiling at him...

"Just one...And the name is Walthrop, Wood..." William smiled coldly back...Nodding at Buffy who took his arm firmly...Glaring slightly again herself now...

"Ah..." Wood grinned sarcastically...His eyes anything but amused... "So you two are officially a couple...Very nice..."

"We're engaged..." Buffy eyed him...A rather grim challenge in her announcement of such a happy event...

Jonathan blinked...Eng...? He looked hastily over to Brenda who nodded...Engaged...

"I...See...Congratulations..." Wood's expression anything but...

"So..." he began, after a brief pause... "What's good tonight...Anything a little less lethal than your usual?..." Wood looked again at the board above the counter...

"What about the fish sandwich?...It's on special tonight..." William replied... "And relatively harmless..." a slight smile...

"Oh...?"

"Yeah...Just thirty pieces of silver..." he smiled beatifically...

Wood reddened a bit...Glaring rather openly now...

Ummn...Noting the now staring, puzzled, and somewhat intimidated customers...Buffy was slightly...Will?...Honey?...Mr. Assistant Manager?...

After all one can never be too sure about a career with the Watchers' Council...

Well...Jonathan thought loyally...While I can see both sides here...And have walked on the Dark Side myself...He did nearly cost us the whole thing...

"Will..." Buffy hissed... "C'mon...We settled this...Robin..." she put a hand up...

"Lets leave the past with the past...Will saved your life back there...You came through for us in the end...Lets not rake things up again..."

The new Assistant Manager caught his intended's anxiety...Duty calls, honey...He took the glare down a few notches...

Thanks...Her grateful look back as she beamed a bright Doublemeat smile at the now hesitantly approaching customers...Jonathan meanwhile doing his best in the supporting role of happy-go-lucky regular shooting the breeze with the staff, likewise beaming...All's well, folks...Brenda admiring his devil-may-care poise from her seat...

Wood, having backed off a bit as well, stood aside for the new customers...Still thinking my options...he smiled pleasantly at one who paused...

Buffy sighed...She and the Assistant Manager moving with their usual swiftness to deal with the menace of cholesterol-famished heavy feeders, human variety...

Not that she was entirely unhappy to see that William could still do that ole Spikean air of menace when called upon...

"I'm not here to make trouble for you, Buffy..." Wood noted, quietly, stepping forward again as the other customers took their purchases and left under William's pleasant smile...Shaking his head...

In fact...I have good news for you...

"The Board has given me a few extra bucks, after all...I can keep you on...If you want to stay..."

Unless...Your...Fiancee...he looked at William noncommitally...

"Objects..."

"Not at all...Sounds very fine...If Buffy wants that..." he eyed her...Shaking his head and the hat at her in an emphatic way...

"Nice hat..." Wood noted...

"Thanks..." Will replied...

"I'd like to keep on with it...If you're ok with it, Will?..." Buffy began...

Oh...But...? she paused...

"We're going to LA...Then England for six weeks..."

"It's almost summer, Buffy...I won't need you til the fall..." Wood pointed out...

"But...You're a good counselor...And Lord knows, after the destruction of Sunnydale last year, we need good counselors...So...The job's yours in September...If you want to come back..." he finished...

She looked at William...Who nodded encouragingly...

Yeah...she smiled wanly at Wood...I'd like to...

"I was kinda thinking of getting back to college for it, too...Maybe try and major in Education..."

"It's a good field..." Wood nodded...

"Pay stinks of course..." he smiled...A bit warmer...

"But you're used to that..."

He turned to Walthrop...

"I think I'll try the fish..."

William nodded...

"Thanks..." he eyed him...

"This has nothing to do with you, my friend...Buffy is an excellent counselor and my kids need excellent counselors..." Wood replied...

"I meant for trying the fish, mate...It's been a slow mover tonight, even with the special..."

Guys...Buffy glared at both now...While Jonathan, sensing a slight easing of tension, decided to consider his duty done...And slip off into the sunset...With the eagerly-waiting-for-the-scoop, Brenda...

"Jonathan?..." Wood now looked at him directly for the first time...

"Don't make any more involuntary blood donations..." he smiled... "Can't always count on that vasoconstriction thing...Or on meeting up with someone who'll try to bury you properly..."

Yeah...Jonathan wanly nodded...And went back to his booth...An admiring Brenda making room on her side...

"Meeting at the Box tomorrow, Jonathan..." Buffy called to him... "You and Andrew are included, you know..."

On the team at last...Jonathan beamed back at her happily, nodding...

Wow...Brenda thought, eyeing her dinner companion shyly...From Nobody to Evil Geek to Dead Hero to Revived Noble Supporter of the Slayer...

A career even Buffy's William might find hard to match...Let alone that good vamp guy from LA with the bad hair...

Hmmn...Buffy eyed Wood...Well, he seems to be gradually dealing...Very gradually...

Wonder if I could get William to ask him to be an usher...?

After all...We're kinda limited in candidates, me and Will not having all that many male...Or...Luckily for him...She gave William a quick smile as he served Wood...Female friends...Even if we let in the vampiral/demonic...

Which we will not, excepting Clem and Angel, of course...

LA...A bad street in a very bad neighborhood...

"I'm sorry about how things worked out, Angel..." Charlie eyed the tall vampire as they strode along...

Yeah...Angel looked down an alley...

"But...Perhaps it was for the best..."

Sure...The vampire looked up the street carefully...Still no sign of the new pride...A rough bunch by rep...

"These things..." Gunn began...

"Yeah, Charlie...I get it...Stuff happens..." Angel cut him off...

And Buffy and I were pretty much over after I left Sunnydale...So no need to go on about things...

"Sorry..."

"Lets focus on the mission, shall we?...We have a city to protect..."

"His" city...Charlie thought...Ah, well...It is nice to have things more or less back to normal...And with the Partners contained and back to Hell...We've been able to concentrate on the minor evildoers, like tonight's set...

Yes...The mission...The newly instated partner of Angel, Burkle-Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...Sighed to himself...And being the new Watcher-designate for Los Angeles to replace good ole Wes, courtesy Chairman Giles, the mission was of course top priority...

Even if the idea of the absent Walthrop holding a partnership equal to his own share as well as the New Sunnydale Watchership was a bit irking...

Still, he couldn't help feeling it was all a bit hard on his friend...Now that they were friends again...Buffy had been rather cold all during that last battle...And clearly had formed a relationship with...he shook his head in wonder...William...

In some ways that being the hardest thing...The infamous Spike, soul-restored...Minus even the hint of a curse or restraint on happiness...And Buffy, ready to die with him when the First had threatened to take him...

Him ready to die for her as well...Charlie had to admit, remembering...When the First had moved to try to possess her...Just before Jonathan and Willow had made their move...

Well, at least Angel seems to have found contentment...Via dear Nina...Or perhaps the Boss' rather large ego had found part of that contentment in being allowed to continue unbothered on his own turf as LA savior...

Well...We all make our adjustments...Like dear Lyri and me...He thought, rather contented himself...

Crash!...A running vamp, new to Gunn...Looking anything but aggressive and intimidating...

Rather terrified...And hunted...In fact...

"Help!..." the vamp screamed to them, focusing on Angel...

Rather incongruously, Charlie noted...

"Don't let her get me!..." he cried, face even more distorted by fear than demonic ridges...

Help me, brother...! he halted by Angel...Who stared at him...

What the...?

Geesh, has my reputation faded that much already?...Angel eyed the pleading vamp...

Another loud crash...The fence down at the end of the alley the vamp had emerged from fell over...A solitary figure in the distance...Gunn raised his glasses to look at...

Buffy?...he thought...

But she was gone before he got a second look or Angel could look as well...

"She's...A...Monster..." the vamp gasped... "I never saw anything like her..."

"I think...It was your friend Buffy..." Gunn eyed Angel...

"What?..." Angel stared... "Buffy...?"

In "my" city?...Unannounced...?

"Can't be sure..." Charlie noted...Turning to the vamp who was now beginning to remember he'd been part of a group out to destroy these two...When he set out...

However a fresh memory of Nemesis ripping his sire apart with barely an effort...The strongest vamp seen in these parts in a while...Dulled his enthusiasm for a new conflict...At least while that creature, that hideous...Had she been seven or eight...Ten, yes, ten definitely...Feet tall?...

Urgg...Angel grabbed the fellow by the throat, cutting off his ruminations...

"Was it the Slayer?..." Gunn stared at the vamp...

Talk...Angel shook him...

"Never saw the Slayer...Don't know...But this wasn't like any Slayer I ever heard of...A monster...You guys saw her right?...Ten feet tall with claws...?"

"She was barely five feet tall...No claws..." Charlie eyed him...The Baron Munchenhausen of vamps obviously...But then, these newcomers from the MidWest...

If it was Buffy...She'd be rather pleased to hear the effect the Slayer still had on those who hadn't encountered her before...

"We'd better check on this...Call Giles in Sunnydale and see what's up..." Angel noted...

Can't believe Buffy would come into "my" city without so much as a by-your-leave...he groused inwardly...

"Lets go, pal..." he pulled the vamp along...

Phew...His new guest sighed to himself...

"You guys accept POWs right?..." the vamp smiled nervously at them...

Damn...I had to get ambitious my first time as new Earth Slayer...Nemesis sighed as she headed back to the landfill hill where Warren and her William awaited her...A full large-sized cooler of blood balanced on her shoulder...Should've let the little fellow go when I sensed Angel and his friend near...

Well...Maybe Angel and that black guy didn't see me too well to notice...They didn't seem stuck dumb by Buffy's miraculous return...

Yeah...It'll be fine...At worst they're trying to convince themselves they didn't see a thing...And it'll be just that much more of a miracle when I do show myself...Emerging from the Darkness to give Light back to a trocul...triev...Damn you Mears!...Ah...Troubled...World...

Hmmn...Maybe a little too like Angel in Christ mode but what the hell...And William will be rolling on the floor afterwards...Buffy descending back to Earth from Heaven on high...He'll love it...

Hmmn...William...I wonder...Well, I'll do the very proper and demure...Sadly, already spoken for...Buffy when I meet his counterpart here...If I...Buffy didn't kill him already years ago...I nearly did...Constantly, back on my world, after all, in the before time...

Anyway...That's for later...When Warren's set me to rights and we know this Earth and my friends are ready to meet me...

Important thing now is to get this stuff back to my William...And see if dear ole "dad's" been up to anything...

Can this little woman bloodwin or no?...she thought happily...Eyeing the cooler on her shoulder...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XXII...

New Sunnydale...The sidewalk by the Summers' home...

A somewhat battered-looking but quite sporty car pulled over...Its windshield painted over but for a few visor-like spots...

From the Summers' living room, a rather perturbed Dawn glared out the large window...To see Buffy emerging from Spike's...Right, she groused..."William's" , now...Ole Spikemobile...

Looking quite content with the world...Especially for someone who'd just ridden in the Spikemobile...

Indeed, looking rather more than content...Again eagerly thanking Clem, come to help lug, for having gotten the car safely out of old Sunnydale...It being of such sentimental value...

"What a neat car..." Sophia, a raven-haired, fairly new SIT arrival from Greece, looked out as well... "A classic..."

William had gotten out as well...Having made a valiant effort to reach his intended's door before she could get out...

Gr...eat...Dawn frowned...Watching Buffy beam at a sheepish-looking Will...Now clearly insisting on carrying some of her stuff...As she eagerly chattered to Clem about their day at work...

Maybe we should all offer to leave for the night so they can have the place to themselves...

"Your sister and that William make a very nice couple..." Sophia innocently noted...

"Well...?" Angel eyed Charlie, back in the offices of Angel Investigations...Their vamp POW safely and rather contentedly on his way to a new Initiative/Watchers' Council holding facility in the Caribbean...

Gunn put down his phone, shaking his head...

"Mr. Giles says Buffy is coming...With William...But not for a few days yet..."

Guess I must've been mistaken...Unless...

"The First?..." Angel shook his head in turn...

She's been neutralized...It'll be thousands of years if ever that she recovers enough power to punch her way back here...

"And this one was clearly physical...Unless my "brother" was leading us on..."

"Other shape-shifters...Corporeal ones...Do exist..." Gunn noted...

And something destroyed Phonicus the Mighty tonight...With minimal effort, if our friend's story was the truth...

"Kinda phony regards the "Mighty" bit..." Angel grinned... "To go out so easily..."

Angel...? Charlie eyed him...

"Just because Light has won a great victory over the Darkness isn't reason for us to become overly confident...Phonicus was supposed to be one of the most powerful vampires ever created...The strength of an Uber-vamp, with considerably more brain-power..." he noted sternly...

"Spoken like a true newly instated Watcher, Charlie..." Angel smiled... "And you're right...But at least let me enjoy a moment's gloat over a big win...And a reasonably quiet night..."

Bad enough we let the competition take the big one practically without us...he joked...

"And that I gotta play host to the happy couple in a few..."

Hmmn-hmm...Gunn eyed him solemnly... "Of course, you might be able to get directions to that African cavern from William when he shows..."

"Oh, yeah...That was the place you told me was just a legend, if I remember correctly..." Angel gave a wry look...

No...I said those who go in search of it become legends...Unless the god within takes a shine to them...They never even find the place...Usually encounter destruction long before...Charlie shook his head...

"Our friend Walthrop's romantic nature must have appealed to him..."

Or maybe...Angel hesitated...Some real pain creeping in, Charlie noted sadly...

"Maybe he did for the Slayer...Knowing how much she really wanted William to win his soul back..." A wan smile...

A smart minor deity to get on the Slayer's good side...Gunn nodded...He must've heard about Glory...

"I am happy for her...And him..." Angel nodded...

"After all...There's Connor now...And, someday...Maybe...I may get a chance to talk things over with Darla again...Her soul, I mean..."

Sure...Charlie smiled kindly...

"Mr...Walthrop..." Angel shook his head... "The soulless vampire who regained his ability to love a mortal...And then won his soul back...For love of Buffy Summers..."

Well...he paused...Now we know who the Prophecy was referring to, eh Charlie?...Another smile...

"Doesn't have to be limited to one, Angel..." Gunn eyed him..."We make our own Prophecy, you told us that..."

"Yeah...Anyway...Nice to know my "grandson" of sorts is a worthy fellow..."

"I have my doubts about these "poetic" types..." he grinned...

"Hey, Warren..." Nemesis was upon him before he heard a sound...

"William...?" she eyed him...Looking round...Somewhat anxiously...

"He...Wanted to...Take a little...Look around...Feeling better..." Dr. Mears explained...With some minor difficulty as she held him off the ground, choking... "Left...This..." he struggled to pass over a note...

"Great..." she nodded...Setting him down...

"Then I don't have to make my first human kill in our new Earth...Yet..." she smiled pleasantly...

See...I'm really making an effort here... "Pops"...she grinned...Scanning Will's note...

"Back home, you'd probably be dead now...Even if I wasn't intending to kill you right off...You know how I get sometimes when I get agitated...I..."

She paused a moment...Blinking...

"Sorry...I shouldn't talk like that...Buffy...Doesn't..." she looked at her hands...

"I...Don't talk like that...I'm sorry..."

He stared at her...

"So...He wanted to "scout around"...?" she frowned...Well, she brightened... "He must be feeling a little better..."

Hmmn...She smiled at the note...Signed "Soames..."...His middle name...With a line strongly urging her to use that name to identify him...

"He wants us to call him "Soames" from now on?..."

"I...Think..." Mears caught his breath... "He thought it would avoid confusion...If we meet up with the William here...If there is one..."

Soames...she grinned... "I always...Well, Cicely always...Liked that name..."

"Which way'd he go?..." she asked...

That way...he pointed...

"Can't believe he left you on your lonesome, Mears..." she groused...

"He wasn't going far...And he knew I wouldn't be going anywhere til we know more about this place..." Mears told her...

Ok...Stay, poppa...she eyed him...

"Cause you and me still have business..."

She turned away...

"Buffy..." Warren suddenly called to her...

Yeah?...

"In the old days...The "before time"..." he paused...

"You wouldn't've hesitated to threaten to beat the crap out of me...You just wouldn't've have done it without a half-decent reason...Which I guess you have...From your pov..."

She stared back at him...He looked at her steadily...

Thanks...she nodded...And headed off...

"Don't wander off, Warren...I mean it..." she called back without looking...Disappearing from view...

My little girl...The bizarre thought crossed his mind...

"Yes...I'll hold..." "Soames" politely informed the operator he'd reached from the battered, but functional phone booth he'd found...

Fortunately money...Change, anyway...Seemed to match between the alternate Earths well enough...

However, it seemed Angel Investigations, Inc lacked the prominent profile here it had held on their Earth...If it did, in fact, exist here...Possibly lacking the Council of Watchers' patronage (The operator having shown no recognition and having no listing for LA COW offices...) Angel and co kept a lower profile...

"Still checking, sir...Wait...I have a listing..." the operator told him...

He took the number down, pressing for the connection to go through...

"Angel Investigations...How may we help you?" A female voice...

Cordelia...? he thought...Still alive here?...

"Hello?..." Illyria asked...

No...Not Cordelia...Ah, must be the physicist Willow met...What was the name...

"Er...Sorry, miss..." Soames made a valiant, reasonably successful effort to disguise his voice...

"This is Angel Investigations?..."

Yes...? Can we help you?...she replied...Somewhat impatiently...

If only one had one's former power to immediately transport these telephone malefactors into one's sacred and violent presence...

"Well...I have some important information for Mr. Angel...Ancient manuscripts...Regarding a coming Apocalypse..."

"Yeah...?" ...Why do I get all the crank calls?...Illyria sighed to herself...Allowing her Fredian side to deal...

Still, one never knows...However, no reason not to do a little screening...

"We don't buy occult manuscripts, sir...But I'm sure "Mr. Angel" would be happy to look over your material..."

Hmmn...This one's voice sounds a little familiar, I've heard it before...Who?...she thought...Eh, probably some lapsed Watcher trying to hit Angel up for some quick cash, blood, slaves, or other commodity...He sounds Brit...

"Where are your offices located, please?...I'd like to bring my documents over...Tomorrow afternoon, if possible..."

He copied the address...Thanks...Oh...? Ummn...Name?...he paused at her question...

"Foxcroft..." he hastily replied...Grabbing at the first name he could think of...

"Henry Foxcroft..."

Hmmn...He hung up the phone...

God, good ole Henry...My Cicely's dear, great-hearted cousin...My best friend back in 1880...A regular Xander Harris...The one who brought us together all those years ago...

Hmmn...Might not have been the best name to give out...If they know anything about Cicely here...Well...If Mears is right and Buffy is long dead here...It'd be a while before anyone else makes the connection...

And we have to get some info before we start stumbling around this place...Especially if Mears is utterly off in his assessment of this world...Or deliberately holding back from us...

So...he grinned, shaking his hand...Angel's still intact...And he chose the same spot here as on our Earth for his agency...

Twit...The Hellmouth is in Sunnydale, not here...I never could understand why he didn't just take an apartment near town and commute...He'd of been on hand when Glory came after Dawn and Buffy...Even if he couldn't sleep with her, he could've helped her...

Was nice for me though, of course...he smiled...A little long-overdue assist from the Powers That Be I'd guess...

Buffy long dead...The thought came to him...

Poor William, my counterpart...God, I hope he died with her, it could make everything so...Well...We'll find out soon enough...

He stared at the phone...A quick call to Sunnydale?...Well, no...Not with fifteen cents left...And Dawn, if she's there...Or the others...Might recognize my voice if I try collect...

Well...If all goes well, they're about to receive some joyous news...I hope...he sighed...

"Joyce...Please..." he prayed... "If your spirit can hear me, help your poor "daughter"...Let her find peace and contentment here..."

And forgive me my sin in helping to drag her back...

"Will...er...Soames?..." Nemesis tapped on the plastic shield around the phone...

Who you calling?...Did you reach anybody?...Is Dawn home?...

"Found Angel's place...Still at LA as on our Earth...And he's still Undead..."

Really?...Did you speak to him?...I think I saw him making Patrol tonight...she eagerly told him...

"Didn't see me, I'm sure...Someone was with him, a black guy..."

"That would be his friend, Gunn...I spoke to his assistant, the one Willow met..." he looked at her... "I managed to disguise my voice, I think...I don't know if Cordelia's alive..."

"Neat..." Nemesis beamed... "Lets hope so...That'd be so great for Angel?...Maybe we could find out?..."

Buffy...I didn't want to ask a lot of questions...We should keep a low profile yet...

"I just wanted to confirm the place was here...And at the same address..."

"Ya wanna pay them a visit...?" she grinned...

"Just a little reconnaissance...Drop in, paw through a few records, slip out...We need to know what's what here...And I prefer to have a source of info beyond our dear ole Warren..."

Sounds good...she nodded...I'm up for a little breakin' and enterin'...

"Buffy..." he hesitated...

"I'll take it easy...Soames..." she beamed at getting it the first time...

I was alone with Warren and he's still in one piece...she noted, rather pleased with herself...

He nodded...

"Speaking of dear Mearsy..." he eyed her...

Yeah, best we got back...I was just nervous...You shouldn't have left like that, Soames...I was scared...she looked at him...

"I can't be alone, William..." she looked down nervously...Then shrugged and grinned up at him... "You promised me you'd stay with me...Eternally..."

He stared at her...

"In 1880...Our wedding vows...Inscribed on our rings, remember?..." she smiled at him...

"Eternity is ours...That was the inscription...And you said it was a good one..."

"Eternity is ours..." he nodded... "I remember..."

I do remember, Cicely...he smiled at her...She smiled back...Then...It's all gonna be all right...

"Anyway...I got your blood...Killed a few vamps, one preety strong one..." she noted... "Lets get back and figure out how we'll do things at Angel's later..." she took his hand and led him back towards the landfill hill...

"See, William...Ummn...Soames..." she hastily corrected... "The guys...They're here...They're all right...It's all starting to work out..."

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XXIII...

LA, about two miles from the landfill hill where alternate Mears, Soames, and Nemesis prepared for their trip to Angel Investigations...A devoted Nemy having insisted on not leaving dear ole "Pops" out of their little excursion plan...Wouldn't want Dr. Mears to get himself into trouble on new Earth the first night and all...

Kat-32 appeared about two feet in the air over the ground and fell...Rather solidly...

She staggered to her feet...As planned she'd materialized about two hours and some distance from where the father-creator, Nemesis, and Walthrop had arrived...

The lights of the city gleamed before her...LA if the father-creator's calculations had been correct, both he and Nemesis preferring to avoid a materialization in Sunnydale, perhaps in front of some of alternate Ms. Summers' friends and family...

She felt the pouch on her side...Hmmn...Transmitter/receiver seems unbroken...Ah, test light functional...

Now, if the homing device Warren had placed among his equipment is functional...Yes...The father-creator will be pleased, she beamed to herself...And she would have the joy of providing him with her devoted protection and service...The only clone servant to have made it to new Earth, it seemed likely...

Not that she could hope to deal with Nemesis on an equal confrontation...But, any service she could provide that might help to protect the beloved one, reason for her existence...Would make her life and sacrifice worthwhile...

And no doubt, father-creator would have a brilliant plan in mind for dealing with Nemesis...If she could just reach him without exposing her presence...

Indeed, she thought contentedly, remembering as her mind cleared a bit...He had already provided the first part of a brilliant scheme to conceal herself...She was, within her abilities and until contact was established, to conduct herself as Katrina original...Kat Silber of new Earth...Warren having cleverly reasoned that even if her original counterpart here was very different or not currently living, it was unlikely Walthrop or Nemesis would concern themselves with checking her out...

Doing her best to avoid that Katrina herself, if she should still be living in the area...Warren having expressly stressed avoiding harm or danger to the true original Kat of new Earth...

He might still have a chance with her, after all...Even if the younger, alternate Warren here had blown it, according to the info Dr. Mears had exchanged with his counterpart in their brief, fragmentary contacts by a form of microwave telepathy...

Fragmented contacts that unbeknownst to older alternate Dr. Mears had led the Mears of new Earth to a rather unfortunate, grandiose view of his own abilities and future...

Sunnydale...The Summers' home...

Dawn on low simmer, eyed William as he sat watching Buffy on the phone with Giles...

Sophia, Lorna, and several other SITs dividing their time watching HBO and the even more interesting playlet unfolding in the living room...

"Well...Giles...I don't know what Angel saw...But it sure wasn't me..." Buffy told him...

Nice to hear Angel and Gunn had no trouble with Phonicus...But if this new one's a prob, William and I will lend a hand when we get there...

Dawn's look at William rose in temperature a notch...

"Maybe it was Dru having a little fun..." Buffy suggested...

William turned to look at the Nibs...My...The future sis-in-law's developing quite a nice glare, even minus potential Slayer status...

"Buffy tell you about the great deal she worked out for us with Willow and Giles...?" he smiled at her...

Temp dropped a notch...

Yeah?...she stared at him...The (urgh, but unavoidable) bro-in-law already standing to do rather nicely with his Watcher position...

"I'll leave it to her to give you the details...But lets just say...Our Slayer slayed em..." he grinned...

Hmmn...No, now wait a mo...I am not about to be bought off with the possibility of abandoning the bargain basement...she resumed glare...

"We should talk, Nibs...When we have a mo..." he noted the rise in temp...

Yeah...she darkly nodded...We...Should...

"We expect to be leavin' in a day or two...Unless you and Angel think we should go sooner?..." Buffy continued...Briefly glancing at Dawn...Oh, God...

"After all..." Will noted... "You being the maid of honor and all..."

Dawn blinked...Her glare suddenly dropping several notches...Maid of...?

Buffy looked at William, nearly dropping the phone...What?...He gave a reassuring glance back...

Well, if it means peace...And I hadn't spoken to Willow yet...she thought...

The SITs now abandoning their show...Glued to the real drama...

"Ummn...Ok, Giles...Well, let us know what Angel wants us to do...See ya at the meeting tomorrow...Bye..." Buffy hung up...And quickly recovering from her moment of surprise, exploited the tactical opening her intended had provided like the champion warrior she was...

"Yeah, Dawn..." she smiled at her...

"Course I did hope Will would wait until I'd had a chance to ask you..." a slight frown at her boy...Just enough to convince...Perfect...

"I'm sorry, dear..." William shook his head...A quick glance and nod...Perfect...

Amazing...Lorna eyed Sophia...It's like telepathy...

I should have waited...he sighed...

"But I'm sure Nibs knows we wouldn't feel right about it unless she accepted..."

Ummn...Dawn looked at them...Buffy having moved to stand by William...Both giving her a pathetically eager, appealing stare...

"You will do it, won't you, Dawny...?" Buffy let a slight plea creep in...

Mom...Would be so happy...

Ummn...

LA...The landfill hill...

"And...If we're caught...?" Soames eyed Nemesis...A bit sternly...A slightly disgruntled Warren watching...

We surrender...Peacefully...And tell Angel the truth...she sighed...

"Well, part of the truth..." Soames noted...

I don't think telling him you recently destroyed his alternate world self would set us up very well with him...

"I could always say it was Angelus I killed..." Nemesis grinned...Warren suppressing a smile...

Sorry, sorry...she put a regretful look on her face...

"Buffy..." Soames eyed her... "Or am I talking to Nemesis...?"

She bit a lip...Wincing a little...Mears rather fascinated now...My God...Anyone else would be long dead by now...

"I'll be good, Soames...I promise..." she nodded, a sincere look...

And sooner or later we gotta introduce ourselves anyway...she noted...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XXIV...

LA, the freeway near the landfill hill where the alternates had first materialized...Near midnight...

Hmmn...Dr. Mears frowned to himself as he reluctantly followed Nemesis and Soames towards their destination...The offices of Angel Investigations, best available source of info on the new Earth they'd reached...

Anxious to begin fulfilling her role as a new Buffy for this new Earth as she was, Nemy had been unable to resist letting him know that there was no Mears Corporation on this world...

Guess the Warren of this world hadn't been quite so capable as you, "Pops"...she'd cheerfully noted...

Not really all that a surprise to him, having telepathically encountered his young punk of a counterpart in his earlier probes of the place...Little wuss hadn't seemed to have much to him, at least not until he'd let him know of his great potential...In exchange for what data he could supply on his world...And specifically, his world's Buffy Summers...

Curious that this world's Warren had been nearly ten years younger while the others were apparently about the same ages...But hey, alternate Earth, alternate individual destinies...

Though sadly, Buffy's had apparently been about the same...Death in resealing the mighty hell-goddess Glorificus' little interdimensional portal...But it stood to reason that a hell-goddess would act across the dimensions of the multi-verse.

Pity she hadn't turned to one Mears for help...At least on their own home world...He could've helped her seal the damn thing, he was sure...For the right price, natch...

Like maybe turning a blind eye to the darker side of his little cloning operation...Instead of letting Kat know about his trade in sex clones like dear ole April...

But...He'd had the laugh on her in the end...First with the Hunters, then with Nemesis...Thanks to good ole desperate-to-recover-the-lost-love-of-his-existence Walthrop...And the Watchers' Council, terrified of the demon raids which had begun after Summers' death and Faith's disappearance...

Well...No, whatever laughs the Hunters' creation had provided, Nemesis had never been a joke...She had been the alpha and omega of his work...His greatest achievement and the whole reason for his little career, he realized now...

His dream of perfection and...The only child he was now ever likely to have, excluding his little brace of Warren, Katrina, and Hunter clones, none of whom could match her in ability to function independently...Like a true child...A true...Daughter...

Unless of course things worked out with the Katrina Silber of this Earth...

But even knowing the Mears of this Earth was unlikely to have climbed the heights he had, it still annoyed him that he was no longer the lionized savior of Humanity he'd been back home...

Dumb lazy punk of a Mears...What had the kid been doing with his life?...Why at his age, back home, he'd already finished his doctorate and made his first major discoveries...

This one...Hell, the operator hadn't even been able to find a current address for him in Sunnydale when Nemesis had pressed Soames to try with the change she'd had on her back at the phone...

Just like her...She'd guessed the other was nobody...And set out to rub dear ole dad's face in it...

Perceptive, my little girl...The thought popped up, with an accompanying touch of pride, bizarrely enough...

"Pick it up, Warren..." she looked back at him... "We've only got til sunrise, ya know..."

LA, downtown...The empty offices of Angel Investigations...One am...Even Angel having left for his rounds...

"I can do it, Soames..." Nemesis insisted as Soames surveyed the security system with Warren .. "I'll be very careful...I did a fine job back at Mears Corp...No alarm ever caught me..."

That's cause you can outrun every security device, pet...he smiled at her...

"But ole War and I can't...So let us do it the old-fashioned way and disable the system completely before we go in..."

Ok, ok...she nervously fidgeted...

"Guess I'm just not made for waiting..." she gave them both a wan smile...

Never was...Remember William?...she grinned...1880?...he nodded, smiling back...

"I asked him to marry me, Warren..." she explained... "I just couldn't wait...Even if it was a terrible breech of dec...di...(decorum?...Soames suggested...Yeah...she sighed...You gotta get to work on me, Pops...she frowned at Mears)..."

No guarantees...Warren hastily noted...She eyed him coolly...

"I can only work with what's available, Nem..." She glared... "...er Buffy..."

But I'll do what I can...When you get me a place to work...

"Soon enough, Pops..." she turned away him...Clearly thinking some uncomfortable thoughts, Soames realized...

"Buffy...?" As she shared at the wall of Angel's building...Not responding for a long moment...

No guarantees...Never to be Buffy again...Like this forever...Never loved again...Why, God?...Why?...Did I ask for this?...

But there is Soames...William with me again...Always...Immortally...He will stay with me, whatever happens...So long as I at least try...

Until I finally age and die...If Warren left me even that much...And I help him come with me to peace at last...Cicely's quest over at last...

If I have my Will...I can try, no matter what Warren can or can't do for me...

She brushed the thoughts back...

I can be Buffy...They need me here and I can be her again for them...No matter what...At worst, just a little matter of self-control...And I am still the Slayer...Self-control our professional middle name...

"Buffy..." Soames tried again...

"Fine, fine..." she waved a hand...

"Lets do this..."

Sunnydale, about midnight...

"Well...Nibs..." William smiled at Dawn...As she and he followed rather anxiously behind the somewhat, and temporarily, weakened (battle with the First having been a strength-draining experience) Buffy...Buffy for her part equally anxious regards both Dawn's having been allowed by her reluctant older sis to come along on Patrol...And how her dealing with vamp-in-law thing is finally gonna work out...

"It was sweet of you to agree about the Maid of Honor thing...It means a lot to Buffy...And me...I hope you know that..."

Yeah, yeah...Dawn waved an annoyed hand... "But I'm not a little moron, I hope you know that..." she frowned...

I know...he grinned...A sudden loud grunt, followed by a crashing sound up ahead, now diverted them...

"Should we...?" Dawn indicated where Buffy had just become engaged in a fight with a rather young female vamp...Little gross, Dawn thought, watching as they move up to the fighters...Buffy a bit winded, falling back from a series of hard, but poorly aimed kicks by the female...She's not much...Hmmn...She watches the dust cloud settle...Er wasn't much older than me...

"Guess not..." Will grinned... "Don't worry about your sis...She's doing fine...And we'll have her back to champion form in no time..."

Buffy dropping back to them, somewhat apologetic looking...Sorry you had to see that one, kiddo...the look she gave to Dawn saying...

"Poor kid's at peace now..." Will nodded...

"Yeah...Maybe that's the best thing that can happen to a vamp..." Dawn pasted an innocent look on her face... "Peace and all, I mean..."

As Buffy gave her a rather icy stare and William a rather sympathetic one...Bit's about to lose more of her sis' already somewhat divided attention after all...Not an easy thing, as he, devoted mother's son that he'd been, could attest...

"Not always..." Buffy said curtly... "C'mon Will...We better scout out in front here a sec...Keep back behind us, Dawn..." Taking his hand firmly...

Buf...William eyed her as they moved along, Dawn clearly in grouse mode behind them...

"She just said you'd be better off staked, William...Howdaya expect me to react?..." she hissed back...

"She didn't mean it...She's just po'd at losing her big sis and fill-in mom...At least she thinks that..." he cut off her hasty attempt to protest... "And the case could be argued...Very persuasively by Giles, no doubt...That a vamp with a soul is better off staked and sent to where he or she can forget the bad old days..."

She halted...A quick look back to see Dawn keeping up...And back to him...A stricken expression...

"Is that what you want, Will?...To be at peace?..." she clearly having considered this one a while...

"Peace is nice..." he nodded... "But I prefer a little now action just right now...A chance to prove William the human soul was worth the effort you and others invested in caring about him..."

And I'm rather looking forward to being Mr. Buffy Summers...he grinned...

"Summers-Walthrop..." she smiled back...Turning to stake a large male vamp, probably the mate of the female she'd just killed, making a rather gallant suicide run...

Another romantic...William stared at the ashes...

For viciously evil killers, vamp demons are sometimes remarkable fools for love...he sighed...

Yeah...Buffy stared as well...Then back at him...

"Tell Spike...You know..." she looked at him... "I'm grateful...And I care..."

"He knows..." William nodded...

"Poor guy...Hope they're together..." Dawn noted, coming up to them as they stood...Apparently discussing some deep matter...From which she was excluded no doubt...

"She was a little young for that one..." Buffy replied...

So are you...Dawn did not say...Just giving a remarkably eloquent stare back...

LA, Offices of Angel Investigations...Later, about 1 am...

"You sure your friends' counterparts would have anything on you here?...Your counterpart I mean..." Warren looked at Nemesis and Soames as they cautiously opened files and he stood waiting for a laptop on one of the desks to start up...

"Angel would, if there's anything to keep..." Nemesis pawed carefully through a file drawer...Hmmn...Wolfram-Hart resurrection ceremony...Used for Darla's revival...

Might be useful to copy this one, she noted to Soames...Even if it's not quite what we're lookin' for...

"And Wesley, if he's anything like our Wes was, keeps meta...merti...(meticulous?...Soames suggested...Yeah...Thanks...) Lots of files...On every thing occult...He'd keep Angel..."

Whoa...Soames was pulled up short by a red-flagged...Well, red-tag taped to its top...File...

"The Watchers' Council has been destroyed on this Earth...By minions of the First Evil..." he looked through the file...

Hmmn...Good and bad...Nemesis thought...They won't be on Warren's doorstep as soon as word of his abilities gets out, demanding a line of Buffy clones...But must've been hard for the gang and the new Slayer...Or Faith if she's around...OH!...

"Giles!..." she looked at Soames... "Any word, there?..."

Whoops...Warren stared at the laptop screen while his companions were occupied...A search for Buffy files had pulled up quite a few, including a full description of Buffy's resurrection by Willow nearly two years ago...

Damn...He hastily closed the open files and with an innocent expression continued searching the databases...Mainly looking for...Uh-oh...

No wonder Soames couldn't find the little schmuck counterpart's home phone earlier...This young Warren was dead...Courtesy Willow and in a rather unique manner...

But a reference to Buffy being shot and gravely wounded...Hope?...Nope...Survived and fighting the First Evil, whoever the hell that was...

"I'm afraid Wes is dead, Buffy..." Soames sighed... "Angel engaged the Black Thorn Circle and he didn't make it...But...Giles is alive...Reorganizing the remnants of the Council as Chairman..." Soames smiled up at her...Oh-oh...

She caught his look immediately...

"That's a shame about Wesley...And Buffy's alive, isn't she?..." she stared at him...

And I am just...she thought...A copy...A bad copy...

He handed her the latest file he'd been reading...Which she took...As Warren continued his own searches, now desperately seeking general knowledge about the world...

"Well..." Nemesis smiled back at Soames... "She beat the First Evil...Nice goin' huh...?" He stared at her as she turned away...

My poor girl...My poor, poor girl...he thought...

"Warren...Whatcha got there?..." she called to him...Rather surprisingly gently, Soames noted to himself...I'd've thought she'd've torn his head off immediately...

"It'll be fine Soames..." she smiled back... "I'm disappointed, sure...But I half-expected it...Like to know how she beat Glory and came back though...If Warren got that much of it right back on our world..."

"I gave you everything I had..." Warren looked up at her as she moved beside him...A quick, pleading look to Soames...Clearly aware his life hung by a thread... "All the data I'd managed to get on this world...She was dead when I probed here and made contact with my counterpart..."

"Just want a gander at what you've found here, Pops..." she patted him... "Don't fret...Just yet..."

"We'll find a place here for us..." she looked over at Soames, he nodding...Somewhere, someway...

"And hey, maybe this Buffy's a selfish bitch, hated by the gang...Who only tolerate her to keep the world safe..." she grinned...

"They might still be glad to see me...Someday...If I can be the Buffy you knew, Soames..."

And...Having a twin sis might not be so bad at that...So long as she's the only one...And not a product of advanced genetic technology...she noted..

Soames eyeing her innocently smiling face...His own clouded...

"I meant what I said, Soames..." she said, simply... "I won't go back on it...Long as you stay with me..."

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XXV...

Angel Investigations, LA, just after 2 am...

Fortunately, at least from Dr. Mears' point of view...In addition to her insistence that she was not especially upset over learning that she was not the first Buffy to resurrect on this Earth and her desire to make use of his skills to remove some of his "enhancements"to her mind and personality, Nemesis now had other concerns to keep her mind off setting things finally with dear ole "pops"...

Soames had been rather pale and wobbily since their arrival on new Earth and the blood she'd obtained for him apparently had only temporarily improved his condition...Now, as they continued to hurriedly paw through the AI files available for anything potentially useful about the groups in LA and Sunnydale and the state of this Earth in general, he suddenly sat down, looking rather dazed...

"Will...er Soames...?" she looked at him briefly... "You ok?..."

"Tired, that's all pet...Just give me a mo..." he rubbed his head... "I'm fine..." he smiled up at her worried face, patting her hand...

Mears continuing his file and net searches for any useful information...Hmmn, so my punk counterpart made his bid for world domination with that idiot Jonathan and Tucker's brother?...No wonder he wound up flambee a`la Willow...

"So...Whatdaya think we should do next?..." she hastily initiated a discussion of the future with Soames...Not looking at him as he sat, exhausted...

"I mean, we have to find a place where dear "dad" here can work on me..." A nervous glare over to ole "dad"...Eyeing him carefully...What lil' scheme's running in the rat cage of your mind now, pops?... "And some place to live at least until we decide when and how to contact the guys..."

I guess we want to handle that delic..delac...(Delicately?...Soames suggested...Yeah...she nodded)...

"Buffy being around and all the other girls fired up...I guess the demand for a Slayer won't be quite so over..." she paused... "Whelming..." she finished with a grin at both men...

"But hey, an extra Slayer's always a useful thing to have around your world, right?..."

Absolutely...Soames grinned back...Standing a bit stiffly...

"See...Right as rain..." he smiled...

Yeah...she beamed...Yeah...Abso...Abe...

Yeah...she nodded...Moving over to and behind Warren...Who nervously continued his keyboard tapping and mouse manipulation while careful to concentrate now solely on basic information and potentially suitable properties for his new workplace...God, can't believe they still use these things here?...he groused to himself, sighing at the keyboard...Technology must be fifteen to twenty years behind us...

On the other hand, a potential fortune when his completely voice-activated PC line hit the market...

Hmmn...Wonder if they still use real actors on television instead of simbots...?

"So...Pops...What you come up with in all that searching...?" she looked carefully at the screen...

"Mostly just looking for a place to set up my workshop..." he told her, not looking back... "And at the news a bit...There doesn't seem to be any general acknowledgment of...Or much concern about demons' existence here..."

Oh...?...She glanced over at Soames who came to them...

"Hear that, Soames?...No big demon raids here...Guess Buffy and the guys have things pretty much under control..." she frowned a little...Still, an extra Buffy-class plus Slayer must always be handy...And if things were handled right and no suspicions were raised about her life on their old Earth...Maybe, just maybe...She caught Soames' nervous look at her and smiled...No problem, babe...

It will work out, it must...I will make them love me again...Just as I made Soames love me again...

Soames...I gotta speak to Warren...Alone...And then find somebody, Giles or Willow or a doctor who knows about demons...Just in case...Just in case...Cause he's gotta be, he's going to be...Fine...

God couldn't be so cruel...Not after the past two years...The past century...

"You sure you're feeling better, now?..." she took his hand as he stood, looking at the news pages Warren had pulled up...My God, George W. Bush, Jr. President?...How the hell did that...? He shook his head...Well, if you can't run your oil company or your baseball team, why not try politics?...

"Much, lamb..." he nodded... "Just had a little more trouble with the trip than you lot, I guess...But I'm doing better and I'll be fine..."

Yeah, she smiled at him hastily...Ignoring the slight tremors and a coloring that even for Spike was dangerously pale...Well, anyway...

"Our Warren seems to have come up with a preety sizable list of properties, pet..." Soames eyed the computer screen... "I'm sure we'll find something abandoned and useful..."

Yeah...Trust it to good ole pops...she grinned back...

"Within limits, Warren...We do the final approval on any place you find, got it?..."

He gave her a narrow look back, but nodded...Got it...

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Buffy...Couldn't, I suppose..."

She nodded...You got that right, pops...

"Ok then...For now...Well, we'll find a place to sleep in just a bit...I may hafta break into an ATM though...I don't know if the paper money we've got is any good here..."

"I wouldn't try it...Wrong Secretary of the Treasury for most of my bills according to the site here..." Warren tapped the screen... "You might get away with it once, but you'd be tracked down preety quick..."

But...I think I can solve our cash flow problem temporarily...If you'll grant me five more minutes...he grinned...

"And there's now a reservation for three at the Hyatt...With a notice regarding our delayed arrival due to late plane flight..." He tapped a bit more... "There...My old credit card is now activated once more...You and Mr. Walthrop there now have 'replacement' cards enroute to the Hyatt as well..."

Hmmn...She looked where he was pointing in...Well, nice job, Mearsy...she nodded at him...

Though the Buf here already might not take my saddling her with a $10,000 credit line too kindly...

"Deluxe suite... 'Dad's' doing us proud..." she grinned at Soames...

"Guess we'd best go and take advantage of our Warren's skills...Before Angel or one of his people decides to check in here..." she paused...

"Soames...? You wanna go see if you can scoop up some more blood?...Angel must keep some packets around and you've the best nose here for trackin' it down..." a quick smile at him...

I'll "help" dear poppa here finish up his researches...she beamed at Warren...

"Angel probably keeps close tabs on his personal stock, Buffy..." Soames eyed her...

"Eh..." she waved a hand... "He'll put down to a demon makin' a quick smash-and-grab...We can even leave a note... "In your face, Broodo" or somethin' like that...Another demon thumbs his nose at the bloody stupid one for a thrill...He'd never think in a million years it was Buffy and William..."

He rolled his eyes with a chuckle... "Well...Best to leave it a mystery, I'd say..." she gave him a slight mock pout... "All right, back in a mo..." He paused at the door...Eyeing Mears quickly as he looked at her...She nodded...I'll watch him, her look noting...

After all I've done for her...Mears groused internally...But was suddenly startled by her moving to him...A stricken, pleading look on her face that in spite of himself, almost moved him to tears...

"What's wrong with him, Warren?"...she hissed, practically in his ear...Clearly trying to dodge those old super vampire senses of her beau's... "He looks awful..."

So help me, if you did anything...she whispered quietly but harshly...

"It's not my fault...I'm no expert on vampire physiology...It may be some effect of his crossing the dimensional barrier, I don't know...Maybe he'll be fine in a bit...Like jet lag, ya know?..."

"You think so...?" she eyed him... I don't know...she murmured, rubbing her face...

"But you think it's just temporary?..." she turned back to him...

"How should I...?" he stared at her...Her pleading look back tearing at him somehow...Like that first day, when...

"I don't know..." he said simply... "But when you can get me set up, I'll look him over...And maybe one of your friends here...The witch, maybe?...If she is a witch here..."

Yeah...she nodded...

"As long as we can convince them we're not...Dangerous...or evil...They'll help, I'm sure...We just gotta take it slow with them..."

And once you've helped me...It shouldn't be hard for them to see I'm just Buffy...Almost identical to theirs...Only maybe a leetle faster and stronger...she grinned...

"Well, guess you best finish up, Mearsy...Ummn..."...He stared up at her...

"Thanks..." she eyed him... "It's nice of you to offer to look him over...I appreciate it..." she looked away...

Course, I'll kill you if you turn out to have had anything to do with his condition...she smiled faintly...

A brief, brilliant glow in the...Very...Early morning air, and a loud crash as something fairly sizable fell into a pile of trash in an abandoned lot in the rundown town of Crestwood, part of Sunnydale really but allowed to have its own independent administration as of fifty years ago...Allowed with considerable enthusiasm on Sunnydalers' part, Crestwood even then having been rather the worst section of old Sunnydale...Now, perched just on the western edge of new Sunnydale and nearer to the blasted Crater sealing the old Hellmouth, it had become something of a haven for vampires and other underdwellers seeking a little relative peace from the Slayer's constant pursuit...Though Buffy did occasionally and with increasing frequency as central Sunnydale became ever more pacified, extend her patrols to the area...

Oh...A battered-looking, moaning Willow...Battered, but dark-haired and -eyed...Emerged from the debris...She paused, exhausted, on the edge of the lot, trying to take the area in...

The third Earth she'd tried, based on what remained of the coordinates locked into the Gateway system console...But perhaps a little more promising than the others...What little data she'd extracted from alternate Warren's console had suggested a second party had made a crossing a few seconds after the initial party...And her current instrumentation, her own modification of the electromagnetic field scanner in Warren's Gateway system suggested a multiple wave pattern had crossed the magnetic field of this world...

She staggered a bit...Still too drained from her recent travels...And battles...To easily heal herself...

Two Earths...Two flat failures...

Still, she'd made the Buffies of those Earths pay for their sister's crimes...One dead, one, severely injured, forced to watch the Dawn and William of her world die in agony...

And she was prepared to continued her campaign through every Earth she could manage to reach until she caught up with Nemesis...

After all, Nemesis hadn't hesitated to murder her clone sisters...Why should she, avenging the deaths of her Tara, Anya, Xander, Giles, and even Dawn...Nemesis was to blame for that too, clearly...Hesitate at killing Nemesis' interdimensional sisters?...Whatever feeble protests the foolishly soft-hearted and -headed Willows and the others...Even the weak-kneed Taras...of these Earths might make...

No...Nemesis was Buffy...Raised beyond any restraint...And so, Buffy...All the Buffies...Must pay for her crimes...They were, after all, all equally capable of becoming her...

If the Powers That Be objected to that...Let them intervene and save the other poor alternate Bufs...In fact she was still willing to call it quits if they'd simply let her catch up with that bitch and destroy her...

Maybe...

Then again, maybe not...

She stumbled into the street and made for what looked like a heavily barricaded convenience store...

God, this can only be Crestwood, she sighed...

Downtown LA, 3am...

"Reservation for Mears and party..." Warren smiled at the Hyatt Regency desk clerk...Who stared at the battered-looking group in front of his long reception counter...

A rather frumpy, pudgy, harassed-looking early middle-aged man trying to exclude a brisk and confident air...Rather admirable at 3 am...A pale, wan-looking, rather handsome, slender, brown-blond-haired man in a light black jacket and pants who looked rather like some of those odd types who occasionally haunted the lounge and foyer after dark...Perhaps a bit more exhausted-looking than most, even a little unsteady on his feet...Drunk, perhaps?...And the girl...

Now she more than made up for the deficiencies of her companions...Even at 3 am and worn-looking as she was...Especially in that coat and...Rather unusual, what he could see of Nemesis' silvery Hunter outfit, purloined from the clone sister she'd killed outside clone Warren's lair back on her Earth and worn over her even skimpier singing costume, so carefully chosen by her deceased boss, poor alternate Willie...Dress...

"I'll need to see a..."

"Credit card, certainly..." Warren smiled, handing his card over...

"Sorry if we look a bit out of sorts...Our plane in was delayed, we had to run...My...Sister..." he smiled over at Nemy...Who gave a bright, warm, sisterly smile back... "Even had to go in her costume..."

"Sorry..." she echoed... "We really did have to run to make it here..." And how...she thought...Giving the clerk her sweetest beam...

"Hope we don't look too out of place...I'm terribly emba...em...(embarrassed...Warren filled in...Yeah, thanks...she gave dear brother another sweet smile...)

"Oh, not at all..." the clerk nodded... "Confidentially..." he smiled broadly...Noting the card's approval... "We get people here at all hours in all states...You're way head of the pack..."

And you're all set...Rooms 518, 520...He waved a bellhop...

"Thanks...So much...I really appre...appre...Cia...Appreciate...(she gave an open-hearted, pleased smile to Soames...See, gettin' better all the time...)...it..." a rather seductive smile now...

"Hope everyone in this city's as nice as you..." she waved, taking Soames' arm in hers and turning elevatorward as the bellhop stared at the stack of several medium-sized wood crates this strange party had brought in with them...

The girl'd carried it in like it was nothing...But he couldn't budge it... He signed for extra help...

"I'll give you a hand, mate..." Soames wanly smiled, lifting a crate rather easily to the bellhop's cart...

"Wait, Soames...Lemme..." Nemesis reached for the others, rather effortlessly placing them on the cart with the others...The wheels sinking a bit under the load...

Hmmn...I've really gotta start workin' out in the gym...the bellhop thought, staring at the attractive little blonde...

"I think we'll be taking room service for breakfast, yes..." Warren noted to the clerk...

"Room service?...Oh, yeah...!" Nemesis called back to them... "Hey, Soames...Breakfast in bed..." she nudged him...

Life on new Earth ain't startin' out so bad at all...

"My sis and her husband are kinda still on honeymoon..." Warren explained...

"Course...?" The clerk and Warren jumped at Nemy's sudden, incredibly swift return to the desk... "Sorry...But, 'course...You do have my brother's room right next to ours, right?..." she smiled at the clerk...

"Of course..." he nodded, smiling back... "Right next door..."

"Great..." she happily patted Warren...Glancing at him... "Cause we're a very close family circle, us three..."

New Sunnydale...The Summers'...3am...

"I really do have to go, Buffy...You've got to get some sleep..." William smiled at her gently, pulling her arms away carefully as she clung to him...

And even I need my beauty rest...

"Don't go..." she whispered... "There's no need for you to go...God knows, Dawn has to get used to this..."

Stay with me...Don't leave me...Ever again...she murmured...

"Harris will stake me if he finds me showing up at six or so to get my clothes..." he noted...

"It's already too late, he'd stake you now..." she grinned...

True enough, he realized...

"I'll take you later...C'mon...Be a good fiancee, William...Stay..."

We can see another sunrise together...she smiled...

"No, we will not...Not today anyway...If I stay..." he paused...She beamed... "You've got to promise to sleep in...Get some rest before we head out..."

"Can't have you looking worn out when we arrive in LA tomorrow night...Me being your new Watcher...Not to mention...Almost...Husband...Honor of the Council and the family name at stake and all..."

"I'll do the Walthrop name proud..." she nodded... "If you'll stay..."

"Oh, for God's sake, William...Tell her you'll stay...And then clam up so we can get some sleep...!" Dawn called down to the basement from the living room where she'd been trying to keep awake, ostensibly planning to "camp out" with three of the five SITs still living with the Summers...

"See...Even Dawn's ok with it..." Buffy grinned...

Well, if future sis-in-law's seal of approval is on it...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears...

Part XXVI...

Room 520, the Hyatt hotel, LA...Next morning...

A startled Warren awoke to find a cheery Nemesis standing at the foot of his bed, tray in hand...Breakfast, pops...she happily announced...

"What time is it?..." he blinked at her, groaning...

"7:30..." she smiled, bright-eyed and chipper...Eyeing him carefully...

"Oh..." he moaned...Jesus, after last night you might have let me sleep in a little...

"Sorry..." she smiled... "Just wanted to make sure my dear papa was still with us..."

And I didn't want your breakfast to get cold...Room service here costs enough...she grinned...

"Ok...You know I'm still here...Can you give me a few moments privacy to eat in peace and get myself together?..."

"Aw, pops..." she smiled at him... "You're gonna hurt my feelings...You know how responsive I am to your moods...Thanks to you..." she eyed him...

"But ok, fifteen minutes...Then start getting dressed, cause we're going hunting for a new place for you to work..." but, underneath the briskness, he caught a slight...

Well, after the bad news about Buffy being alive here and all...And Walthrop's condition...

"Soames...?" he looked up at her...

Fine...she beamed... "A little pooped yet...But I took it slow with him last night...And this morning..." she looked away, a sly grin...

"I think he'll be just fine...In a bit..." she nodded... "And he's preetty happy this morning..." she beamed...

"We'll have to test Willow's old daylight protective spell a little...It might not work as well here..." she noted... "But you and I could always go out alone together if we had to..."

Hmmn...he stared at her...Out for a stroll in alternate LA alone with my little Nemesis...

Don't think I'd bet money on my survival...

"Maybe we can get a line on the Willow and Giles here while we're out...Especially if Soames stays behind...And later on, I can try and make contact..."

Soames gets a leetle nervous when I talk about meetin' up with the guys...she noted, a slight frown...

Why do I have this sudden urge to tell her it'll be ok?...And that I'll talk to him...Warren thought...

"Anyway..." she waved her annoyance at her own true's lack of faith off... "We might even find some other demon experts on our travels..."

So it'll be fine...She stared at him...Looking to him, of all people, he thought, for reassurance...

"The William of this world's alive you know..." he eyed her a moment, sitting up...She stared back... "Trust you to think of something like that, pops..." she said coldly, turning dark, grim...So quickly that he couldn't prevent a terrified look from coming on his face...Fortunately, for the moment, that was enough to satisfy her...

"But then, I know you...And maybe the Giles and Willow here...Will help me take care of my Will..." she smiled coolly... "And so, he'll be fine..."

Or else...her smile turned sweet...

"Enjoy your breakfast, "Dad"...Or should I say...Brother?...I'll be back..." she called as she reached the door and went out...

Crestwood, 7:30 am...

Overreached myself pushing on to this Earth, alternate Willow thought as she made her way into an abandoned house...I'm practically running on empty...Ow!...she caught a splinter as she pulled back a nailed board...

She looked around...Hmmn...I dunno...This place looks like a...

But I can't go a step further without some sleep...A board creaked and she turned...Whoa!...Guess my senses are down...She eyed her newly-entered companion...Double whoa!...Great...

"Well...Whatda we got here?..." a large, dark-haired female vamp...Thirtish in appeared...Eyed the wiccan...Sniffing...

"Breakfast, I'd say..." she grinned...Hey, Cheryl...she called...A tall, blonde female...Likewise vamp...Emerging from a darkened back room...

Hmmn...alternate Willow stared at the first, heavy-set vamp...Isn't that the big meter maid who used to ticket everybody to get her score up...? Guess here, at least, she finally pissed the wrong driver off...

Sunnydale...8 am...

Well...Dawn stared at the door to the Summers' basement...

There's no fighting fate...

Will is, the soul at least, a good and decent man...And on the way to being a rather damn good provider...

Buf is happy...Hell, she's radiant...

And they could adopt if all else fails...

Crap...What the hell am I doin'?...There's gotta be a way to stop this insanity...

And yet...It's so god-damned romantic...And there have been so many times in the past, before I really understood what a Spike was capable of...

My bro-in-law...Hell...

Well...Not Spike, as Buf would insist...Holding me down and forcing me to agree...

William...

William who's suffered so much...But how could such a good man...Deep in his subconscious even...

Be a Spike?...

Then again...How could a Spike have been what he became these past two years?...And give up everything to make Buf happy?...

Maybe Xander's right and I should rent "Forbidden Planet"...That "monsters from the id" sounds more right now than I wanted to admit then...And if the Hellmouth really is shut down...

But it's all so...As if a piece is missing...Something that drew them together...Some explanation...Some...

Demonic spell, her eyes narrowed...She felt the basement door with her hand...

Well, maybe not...And I'd hardly look the part of confrontational sis, saving her older sis from Evil in these teddy-bear pjs...

SIT Brenda strolled in, yawning in her favorite worn blue Dr. Denton's...Hey...yawn...Dawn...she brushed her long blonde hair back... "Guess we made the cut for early breakfast...For once..." she began with a grin...

Whoops...she eyed the junior Summers, standing by the basement door...Looking solemn...Impressively so, considering her pjs...

Poor kid...she thought...Geesch, 'bout time I called home again and checked on Mom and my lil' sis...

Maybe Jonathan would take me back sometime this summer for a visit...Mr. Giles would surely give me a little time off from my "internship"...And Mom and Claire are anxious to see me...And meet him...

If I can ever convince him that we're a couple...My sweet, modest to a glaring fault, John...

"Things ok?..." she asked kindly...Dawn blinking back at her...Ok?...My sis is running off to LA in a few hours with the vampire lover who nearly raped her...Hell, she's marrying that vampire, you clod...

"Fine..." Dawn nodded, sighing...

The basement door opened...A wan-looking Buffy...Dawn looked at Brenda...Does she look...? Casting a surreptitious glance at her sis' neck...

Well, no new marks...That I can see...

Buffy stared at the two... "What time is it?..." she asked...Looking around...

Eight...Brenda replied...

"You don't look good, Buffy..." Dawn frowned... As in, what the hell did that monster do to you?...she thought...Tensing a bit...

"I didn't sleep much last night..." Buffy sighed...Ummn...I mean...she hastily looked at her sis and the SIT...

"Bad dreams...Strange ones..." she explained...Uh-huh...Dawn glared...Gee, trouble in Paradise with the blonde bad-boy?...she sulked to herself...

All about William and me...Buffy went on...Strange...I saw...she stared at the wall...

"I saw him die..." she shook her head sadly...

"And I knew...Somehow...I caused it..." she stared at her hands as the others stared at her...

Crestwood...8 am...

"So...You two understand what I need and are gonna help me?..." alternate Willow eyed the two vamps...

Yes, Mistress...they nodded...

"The spell I've given you will let you out in daylight for about two hours...And let you pass for human if you encounter anyone sensitive to vamps...Make you sure you renew it when you feel it beginning to fade...But it can only be renewed once in a day so plan your moves accordingly..." she told them...

Yes, Mistress...they nodded...

"All right...There's no point in your leaving before places are open in Sunnydale, so just sit tight and keep a watch out until nine-thirty or so while I sleep...Then you'll head for Sunnydale and check things out as I've told you...Got it, girls?..."

Yes, Ma'am...

"And remember...While you're out today...You're human...No killing, no feeding...You're simply two nice, polite, friendly graduate students who want to collect material on the history of Sunnydale, on the occult, and the other subjects I've mentioned...Do we got that clear?..." she looked them over...Hmmn...

"You two better stop at a clothing store first and get something a little less like it's been worn for days in graves...Plus some notebooks and pens...You got money?..." Oh, yeah...Mistress...Cheryl replied eagerly...We got plenty off a couple of guys last night... "Well...Ok, then...So you'll do it the perfectly legit way...And get something nice and normal...For two nice graduate students, ok...?"

Yes, Ma'am...they nodded...

Thank God I had just enough Dawny power from the other Earths' Dawns left to put them under...she sighed to herself...I really could use a little help scouting things out here...I wanna take it slow until I know what's up...

Cause in addition to the little bit of real data I got, I've a feeling about this Earth...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXVII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXVII...

New Sunnydale, morning...The Summers' living room...

"Well...This is very nice...Haven't done this sort of thing in...God knows how long..."

Uh-huh...And dead silence...

"In fact, now that I think about it...Has to have been...Thirty years since I last got up early for breakfast..." Hmmn...Maybe best to leave out the details as to what he and Dru'd had for breakfast that morning...

Nice...A frown...

"Buffy will be back...When?..."

"I don't know...Whenever she finishes with Giles..." A curt answer, followed by glare...Not bad, he thought eyeing her...Especially in those teddy bear pjs...

"Ah...Well...Maybe I should fire up Willow's spell and..."

She said for you to stay here...Grimly...

"Right...Well, guess she wants me to conserve our daylight time today..."

Uh-huh...

"Dawn..." William sighed... "You and I have to talk...About all of this..."

She looked at him as he sat, breakfast plate in hand...

"Oh, yeah?..." and looked away...

As Andrew, SITs Brenda and Sophia following, entered...A look of slight disapproval forming on Andrew's face as he scanned their plates...

"What's the matter?...Why aren't you eating?...Dawn...?" he frowned...Waving spatula...

"Buffy said for you to eat...Tell her to eat, Will..."

She gave a withering glare...Tell me to eat...Will?...

"He's not telling me to do anything!...Who the hell is he to tell me to do anything?...What's wrong with you clods?...You want a vampire to be my...!" she paused...

Ummn...Andrew stared at her, then William...The SITs quietly retreating back to the kitchen...

"Buffy said..." he looked at Will again... "It's just what she said..."

"It's fine Andrew..." Will nodded... "Nibs doesn't mean anything by..."

"Goddamn you!..." Dawn shrieked, hopping up... "Who the hell told you could...?...Where the hell do you get off...?" she choked up in fury...

He stared at her...A rather cold Spike aspect to his look...She quieted a bit...

"Sorry...I meant... 'I don't believe you mean anything by yelling at your guests'..." he turned back to Andy...

"Dawn and I have a little talking to do, Andrew...But as I said...I don't believe she meant anything, please don't take it as such...And thanks, this is the best breakfast I've had in quite a while..."

LA...Angel Investigations...Morning...

"You're sure about this, Charlie...Fred...?" Angel held a hand over the phone, calling to his operatives...Charlie nodding as he sighed over his precious files...Definitely been manhandled...Definitely recently...Illyria scanning the security files...Oh, yeah...she nodded to him...A grateful smile at the unconscious 'Fred'...

Charlie surreptiously giving her the thumbs up...Knowing how much it meant to her...

"They've been examined, Angel..." Gunn told him... "Quite recently...The computer files as well...Though whoever used the computer was quite skillful in covering his or her tracks..."

Wish whoever might have been as careful with my files...Not only a few stuffed in backwards, but...Is that blood?...He examined the drops on the "Sunnydale, more recent activity..." file...Good, blood I can remove, thanks to past experience...Jam would have been a problem...

"Security says the cameras and alarm must have been deactivated for at least a few seconds...Probably much longer, but a very good job in covering the gap..." Illyria noted...

"And this one shot...?" Angel tapped the computer printout of a digital image... "There's no doubt it's real?...Not a phony?..."

"They must've missed our exterior camera...Probably didn't think we'd bother with one..." Illyria nodded...Ok, Angel sighed...Turning back to the phone...

"There's no doubt about, Giles...Someone did break in here last night...Or early this morning, rather...And one of them...Was either Buffy or her identical twin..."

Charlie eyed Illyria...

"Would the "First" photograph, Charles?..." she hissed...He shrugged as Angel held up a hand...Guys...Just a min...

"Could the First be out and about...So soon, Giles?..."

Illyria shaking her head...Impossible...Unless she's contravened every law of Meta- as well as Standard Physics...According to my Winifred, she noted to Gunn...

"Alright...I'll have the place scanned for mystic energy traces, just in case...But we'll work on the assumption that it's someone or thing else...Maybe some kind of morpher who needed data on Buffy...Or us..."

Hopefully us...Gunn, sitting at computer, thought...Hate for the Sunnydalers to leave us completely in the dust...

"But you are sure, Giles?...She and William didn't leave early...?"

The happy couple jumping the gun?...But why hit us?...Gunn looked at Illyria...Who pondered...

"Always wise to gather information on one's allies...They may turn against you tomorrow...As mine did..." she noted...

Or I on them...Sheepishly look... "It's a little hard to remember now..." Charlie giving sympathetic pat...

Know what it's like to lose a bit of your brain, girl...

"Oh...Hello, Buffy..." Angel raised a hand at the guys...Scratch that one, they looked at each other...A staffer entering the room...A quick negative shake of his head...Nothing missing anywhere, nothing else disturbed...

So whoever was only after information, Gunn...And Illyria...thought...

"Yeah...Looks like you've got another fan who likes to play you, kiddo..." Angel smiled at the phone... "Better be on guard today...You're coming here might be triggering some new fellow's plan...Possibly even Dru is involved..." he paused...

"So..." Gunn and Illyria looking over as they caught the slight tone in his voice...

"How's the happy groom?...He ready to be congratulated...?...And warned...?"

Illyria giving a slight, sad smile at Charlie...Our Angel...Quite a guy...One can quite easily find it in one's...Human section, at least...Heart to pass on the customary accusation of cowardice for not challenging the opposing suitor to a deathmatch...Gunn watching his face, trying not to look overly anxious to see his ridiculous Buffy fixation finally put to rest...

Nothing against the skinny little...But Nina's a peach...

"Well, make sure you two come here after you check in...Lets not take any chances...Ok...? ...Right...And Buffy, give him my best...I mean that...Ok, Giles...Wes will report in any developments or info we get on our intruder today...Lets keep in close touch in case our Buffy copy resurfaces here or your way...Bye..." he hung up...

"Alls well in sunny Sunnydale?..." Gunn asked kindly...

"It wasn't her...And Giles says the First is too drained to manifest here for centuries at least...We're dealing with someone who likes to imitate Buffy Summers and needed all the data they could get from us..." he hurriedly replied...

Angel...Illyria eyed him...

"I'm fine, Winifred...Honestly...And I am glad for her...God knows she deserves some happiness if he can manage it...Him, too if it's all true..." A smile to Charlie as well...

You bet he's fine...Finally got all this silliness out of his head, Illyria thought contentedly...Two unconsciously casual uses of her human name having delighted her...Not that I would ever run the noble Slayer Queen down...First-beater and all, worthy foe even of me in my prime...Just...

Blondes...They're well, shallow...It's no wonder she didn't stick by him...And maybe for the best if she mates with her own kind...

Just as, perhaps...Those of the Brunette race should...She gave him a kindly beam, glancing at Gunn...

Charlie not yet having had time to review in detail some of Humanity's more ridiculous prejudices...And Winifred having been raised by a family determined to ignore them...

"A gramps should be glad to hear his grandson's made good..." Angel grinned wanly...

The Hyatt...Morning...

A slight groan from under the bedcovers as Nemesis crawled up from where she'd just climbed back into her bed with Soames...

"Hiya, there..." Nemesis...Tapping the sheet Soames had drawn over his head...

"We got some time...Warren's got his breakfast together...He'll be a little while..."

She tugged at the sheet...Soames?...A low moan...

"You ok?..." a slightly anxious note creeping in...

"Fine..." a sigh...

"You don't wanta...?" she paused...A slight flush on her beautiful face...Ummn...

Course we been at it a while...And he was still kinda tired...

"We could just cuddle if you're tired, honey..." she hastily noted...

Cuddlin's fine...she grinned...

Thanks...he sighed...Pulling the covers back...Hi...he wanly grinned...

Hey...she smiled...Oh...!...She turned to the curtains...Phew, not moved, thank goodness...

"I did my spell anyway..." he smiled at her nervous face... "I think it's working...I tried a little arm exposure while you were away..."

"You shouldn't have done that, Will..." she frowned...Lemme see...she grabbed the arm he offered...Ok...

"Next time, wait for me before you try anything like that..." she stared at him... "We can't be sure about anything here..."

And I can't...I won't...Lose you...she did not say...But he had no need to hear the words, looking at her anxious expression...

And this...This...Is the murderess who killed nearly all her poor sisters and dozens of others who got in her way besides...And most of my "family" of sorts...He stared deeply into her...She staring back, realizing...

"I did...What I did, Soames...But that was then...There...And this is now...Here..."

"Believe in me, Soames...Please..." she continued her return stare... "Please...I won't let you down..."

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXVIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXVIII...

"Explain it to me, Nibs...When I was a mad demonic killer, you used to ask Buffy why I wasn't her boyfriend whenever you found us together, even after you learned we were trying to kill each other...When I was barely restrained by the chip you and me were best buddies and you thought Buffy was being "too hard" on me...After she died, I was the only member of the team you'd let Botty use as a sitter...And even when she and I...Spike anyway...Were together that year after she came back...You didn't... "

I was just keepin' an eye on you!...she frowned... "And I didn't need a sitter back then with Botty..." she looked over at the kitchen...No one in eyesight at least...But probably all listening and making mental CDs...

Dawn...he shook his head...

"Now my soul's free and in control again...Buffy's not afraid to love me and I think, if you'll pardon me...I've done a little..." she glared at him... "I said 'a little', Nibs, as in, nowhere's near enough but something...To earn that trust...And you seem suddenly determined to label me dust-worthy..."

"You tried to rape her, Spike...!...And..."

"Exactly...Spike tried to rape her..." he paused...Staring at her set face, he sighed...All right, leave that for now...

"As to the rest...And...?... 'And' she showed me she cared...?...That she could...Does...Love me...At least the William in me...?"

"Is that what's really eatin' at you, Nibs...?...That she's dropped her guard and let me in?..."

Sorry...he eyed her furious face... Poor choice of phrase...

"I haven't quite got back into my ole human/poetic stride...I meant in the emotional sense..."

"It didn't matter...All that much...Then..." Dawn spoke coldly, looking away from him, at the far living room wall... "It wasn't her heart that was involved then...She needed you while she healed..."

He tensed a bit...

"I beg to differ, Ms. Summers..." it was his turn to turn on the ice glare...And here, his century's experience came in handy...

"My girl never involves herself with anyone without involving her whole heart...Even if, thank God, she has the brains to keep it under wraps...She knew what was at stake and had every reason not to take the risk...And good reason to believe that even with the best intentions, her blonde vamp boyfriend would one day try to turn her, even out of some twisted kind of love..."

"And you won't?..." Dawn sneered...

Ah...he smiled...This one... "Old topic, Niblett...And one you once took my side on, I might point out..."

"What?..."

" 'Buffy...It's wrong to kill him for when he couldn't help himself '..." he quoted... A remark I'm not at all sorry Spike overheard, hiding in your basement one night...he grinned...

I was a kid then...she glared back...I didn't really know what you were capable of...

"You never asked her to spare Angelus, did you?..." he eyed her...

The Hyatt, LA...8 am...

After, as Nemesis noted cheerily, a generous thirty minutes...Fifteen to eat, fifteen to shower and dress...As she knocked at Mears' hotel room door...

"Time to get moving and enjoy this beautiful day, Poppa..." she opened it with a rush...Fortunately not locked...Shame to have broken a locked door off its hinges after the staff here'd been so nice...she smiled at him...On the floor doing set-up exercises...

"Gettin' in shape for the chall...churn...(Challenges?...he suggested...Yeah...she darkly glared...) Of our new Earth, Mearsy?...Well, glad to you're all dressed and so rarin' to go..."

Got our list of potential workplaces...Hot off our room computer...

"Soames?..." he looked up at her...

"Our new credit cards were delivered a few minutes ago...You don't mind if I keep yours, Pops?...I wanna stick to using yours while we're out...I don't want poor new Earth Buffy to find her and Dawn saddled with another huge bill...And trying to track it down..." she hurriedly replied...

"Soames is still kinda pooped...And I'm not sure of that daylight spell of our Willow's workin' here for any length of time...He'll do what research he can for us here while we're out..."

So it'll be you and me, Pops...Like the ole days...she grinned...

"The old days..." he sighed suddenly...

"I still dream about them...I dreamt about them last night..." Warren looked at her...

The fourteen...I see their poor, kids, faces...And the older ones...

A hard, cold look on her face forming as she stared back...

He waved a hand...For once, not even the imminent menace of her angry presence was quite enough to stop him...

"It's me they're looking to..." he explained simply... "This isn't about you..."

Something in his voice...Some note of unMearsian sorrow, even...Shame?...Made her back down a little from her anger...

"What...Do they say to you...?" she stared at him...He blinked at her, startled a bit...

"They...Call me 'Father'...That's all..."

Father...he stared at the wall...A single tear suddenly running down his cheek...She came close to him and touched it...

"Even you..." she sighed...

New Sunnydale...The Magic Box...

Giles stared at Buffy...Who shook her head...

"Here we go again..." she sighed...

"It's just possible it's Drusilla..." he noted...

If she's caught on psychically to your plans to find her...She may have resorted to something a bit more elaborate in her efforts...

"It would be just like Dru to try and take my form...To punish Will..." Buffy nodded...

But somehow...I don't think it's her...

"All my readings of the Hellmouth...And those Willow and I took of the First's energy output indicate that she can't be involved..."

"So...We gotta new baddie...Who's a fan..."

Well...Ya know what they say about imitation...she grinned wanly...Hmmn...she thought a moment...

"It might be a bot...Something Warren left behind, the way he abandoned poor April-bot to fend for herself..." she eyed the new Chairman...And twice-over, Boss of bosses...Hope I wasn't too rough on him and Willow in the business negotiations the other day...

Be just like Mears, the little schmuck...To have kept a spare Buffy bot around after Spike gave him my specifications...she frowned...

"Right now...It might be anything..." Giles pointed out...

"All the more reason for Will and me to get headed out for LA..."

Yes...he paused, nodding... "I'm afraid I have to concur...Though you may want to find a way to distinguish yourself from this one..." he gave a wan smile...

"I'll have my honey in tow..."she grinned... "And I'll wear a "Buffy the Human-accept no substitutes" tag...

If it is a leftover bot...she sighed...Hope I can get to it quick before Will sees it...Poor guy'll be all guilty...

"I can remember a time when you were ready to kill him for having Warren make that other..."

"No..." she shook her head... "Never...If I'd wanted to kill him...Spike would've dusted long ago...And he knew it, which is why...Until he came to love me...He hated me so much..."

He knew I was holding back...And maybe...she paused...Maybe...Somewhere in him...He knew why...

"A single dream..." Giles came over to her as she stared intently at the opposite wall... "Doesn't necessarily mean..."

"This has been coming on for a while, Giles..." she shook her head... "I've had other dreams...Dreams I didn't tell any of you about...Even before I died again...I didn't dare...Thought you'd think I was either crazy or sluttily obsessed with Blonde-boy..."

And there was always the chance he was using something on me...But it was enough to push Riley and me apart...she looked up at him...

"He knew I was feeling for William...And that it couldn't just be residual from Willow's spell...Learned it the hard way..." she smiled gently as Giles sat next to her, a questioning look...

"I woke up screaming his name on several occasions when Mr. Finn happened to be present..."

And, not in the context of ... "Spike, you maniac I'm gonna kill you for killing my friends!..."...I might add...

"And that night, when he told me...In the bar...About how he'd killed his Slayers...And a tiny, tiny bit about his past...I..."

I filled in the blanks...Saw him back then...Not Spike...William...I saw him...And I knew...I felt...Ya know, the deja-vu thing...And all that year, after I came back...And now, last night...

"I knew him before, Giles...I knew him and somehow...I caused his death..." she said quietly, looking at her hands...As he reached to gently pat her...

"Help me, Giles...There must be a way..."

"I hafta know..." she stared at him...

LA, The Hyatt, Nemesis' and Soames' room...

Hmmn...Soames eyed the computer screen as he typed...

Just how does one describe my symptoms without giving the game away...Even to a practitioner at least claiming to be an expert on the supernatural...

Still, I don't think I can approach ye ole family practioner with this one...

He rubbed his weary face...Well, all one can do is give it one's all...And even demon doc must have complete information to make an accurate diagnosis...He typed away, noting his growing weakness, lack of appetite, even for his primary nutrient source...And included a brief description of their dimensional crossing...

Well...At least if this one's a fake...He'll just laugh me off and offer me a cure for several grand...And I have to find someone...Even if I have to risk making contact with this world's Willow or Rupert or even ole Angel...Before this gets any worse...

I can't leave her alone here...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXIX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXIX...

New Sunnydale, the Magic Box...

Giles paused in reviewing the procedures available for probing lost memories...Both mystical and psychiatric...With Buffy as several customers entered the store, followed by Willow and Kennedy...

Hey...Willow waved, coming over, Kennedy in tow...She stared at her friends' solemn faces...

"Any problems?...Is everything ok?...William?..." she looked at Buffy...

"Will's fine...Just a little puzzle Angel called us with...And a few last-minute trip things..." Buffy eyed Giles...

Seems there's another me out and about in the Big City...she smiled...

Two of the customers who'd preceded Willow and Kennedy into the store were now staring over...Mainly at Willow as Kennedy noted, catching their stare...She nudging her honey... "Friends...Or something...of yours?..." she hissed... Willow returning a sour frown...What 'something'?...

Fortunately, alternate Willow had alerted her servants to the possibility of their encountering her counterpart...They both quickly gave bright, eager graduate student smiles at the gang by the research area...

"Wonderful place you folks have here..." the taller of the two, blonde Cheryl, called...

"We're students doing a report on the history of the occult movement and we were wondering if we could ask a few questions about how you got your stuff together and the shop's history?...When any of you are free...?" the shorter, Gretchen chimed in...

"We'd be very glad to speak with you...In just a bit..." Giles nodded at them pleasantly...Thanks, they beamed at him...

Willow?...he looked at her... "Would you be willing to help the ladies?...Buffy and I will be occupied for a little while..."

"Yeah..." Kennedy grinned at her... "Strut your 'history of the occult' stuff, Rosenberg..."

"Sure, Giles..." she nodded... "Gimme a sec, guys?...Have a seat...?" she eyed the two eager...Hmmn, the short one looks a little familiar somehow?... 'students'...And waved them to the research table...

"No problem..." Gretchen smiled, ... "Appreciate your helping us out like this..." "Ri...ght..." Willow smiled back...Dragging Kennedy over to a bookrack, just out of...human...earshot...

"What the hell 'or something'?..." she hissed to Kennedy... Well...the Slayer smiled... "You are a cutie, Rosie...I don't 'pect to be the only girl on your dance card..."

"What?...Geesh...Maybe that's the way you do it in that den of iniquity, 'Looonnng Island'...But here in good ole sensible California..."

"That's my straight and narrow Rosie..." Kennedy beamed...

"Shudup..."

LA, about 9 am...

"Well...?" Nemesis eyed her dear ole...As Warren looked carefully round the battered warehouse...Landlord, a bored-looking mid-30s balding type, more interested in returning to his interrupted breakfast than business just now...

Hard to believe anybody would want a dump like this...In this neighborhood...Especially a, as his girl? had called him... "scientist"...?

"It might do..." Warren curtly replied...Looking up at the yawning owner... "Is there a 220 line in here?..." The man pondered...And shrugged... "Think so..."

"There..." Nemesis pointed, her extraordinary eyes having found the socket in the darkness...

Right, thanks...Warren beamed...My little Nemy...A sharp eye and no slouch in technical matters, whatever her problems with big words...

"Just whadaya want the place for anyhow?...You're planning to set up a lab here, Frankenstein...?" the owner eyed Warren, chuckling...

Amusing, asswipe...Dr. Mears glared...And if I had one of my more obliging clones here with me right now...

Nemy took the man in hand with a measured smile...Just seductive enough... "My brother's hoping to start a little biotech company...If things in his research pan out...It could really lead to some useful stuff..."

Oh...? the man smiled at her, a trifle less bored now..Hard not to smile at Nemesis...

"Yeah...Warren's just aching to benefit Humanity...And maybe the local neighborhood..." she came beside the landlord...Oh, crap...Please don't kill him...Yet...Warren thought, watching...

"And you, too...Naturally..." she grinned up at him...A gently sweet chuckle...And a deep, innocent stare...

"Though I hope you'll go easy on us the first few months...We'll need time to make a profit..." she now patted his hand...

"Sure, sure...Glad to get someone in here...'Specially if it'll help pick things up around here..."

"Oh, things'll pick up with me around..." she laughed... "At least if I get to see more of you when we come in..."

Uh...A blink...

"I mean you being so close by and all...I'm sure you'll be wanting to check in and see how we're doing...Me and Warren and his partner..."

Christ, Buffy?...Do we want this clown sticking his nose in our business everyday?...And he's sure to after your little invite...Warren thought, glaring at them...

"And if things do work out...You'd be in position to know which new biotech firm you want to invest in, right...? Being so close..." she looked away a second... "To the members of the firm and all..."

Uh...Yeah...

Great...she beamed...Turning to her dear bro... "Warren?...Do we have a deal?..."

"We'd give the first two months in advance, 'course..." she turned back to her rather flustered companion...Oh yeah...Guess money would be nice too...he thought...

"It'll do..." Mears nodded...Frowning at the balding goon who was making puppy eyes at his...Well, whatever she was to him...

"Now all we need is to pick up some equipment and our stuff...And heck..." she beamed at her admirer... "We could get running by tonight...If only..." she paused...He stared, anxiously attending her words now...

"I don't sup...pose..." she looked up at him... "I mean, if you're not using that truck of yours you had parked in your driveway...?"

I mean renting it for the day, of course...she smiled...

"Absolutely...Hey...Maybe I could give you a hand, if you're that anxious to get set up quick..."

Hmmn...Warren looked round again...Then again, if it were me...Even without a Nemy Buffy hanging on me, long as I got a valid card payment I wouldn't bother with a credit check to get this craphole rented...

The Magic Box...Morning...

"So..." Cheryl smiled warmly at Willow who sat with Kennedy beside her, across the table from the two "graduate students"... "All this talk about Hellmouths and Slayers and monsters must be good for your business?..."

"Doesn't hurt..." Willow nodded...Giving a quick, slightly anxious glance to Giles' office door...Awfully quiet in there...

"I've heard..." Gretchen now smiled with equal warmth... "That your friend in the office there...The blonde girl...Is the Slayer herself?...I mean, in the wild stories you heard round town before the Big One..."

Oh?...Willow eyed her carefully...Trying lightly to sense...Hmmn...Seems fully human...

"They say that about a lot of girls in this town these days..." she smiled back... "Even my honey here..." she patted Kennedy...Who frowned at her...Cheryl and Gretchen staring...

"I think they're talking about the toughness of the native Sunnydale girl..." Willow lamely concluded, with a grin... "We're all... 'Slayers' round here, you know...Kind of a nickname, especially since the Big One..."

Mmmn...Cheryl nodded, eyeing Gretchen... A lot of Slayers, eh...

"Are any others named Buffy?..." she asked lightly... Willow blinking...

Ummn...Not that I know of ...she eyed Kennedy...Ah...Gretchen nodded...

"Now as to this 'Hellmouth'?..."

A faint cry from within the office...And a loud crash...Willow and Kennedy hopped up...

"Watcher!...Murderer!..." a shriek... "I'll kill you all!..."

Buffy with a British accent..? Willow looked at Kennedy as they reached the door...Locked...

"After you..." Willow nodded to her SIT girl...

"Buffy!..." Giles' voice, gasping...Kennedy threw the door open...

A furious, raging Buffy held Giles by the throat...Lifting him... "Buffy!..." Willow screamed...

"Wi...llow..." Giles gasped as Kennedy tried to intervene and Buffy tossed her back..."Crys...tal..."

Willow grabbed at the glowing crystal on his desk...White hot, burning her hand...

"Bastards!...Murderers!..." Buffy cried...In a distinctly British accent...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXX...

The Magic Box, midmorning...

Kennedy grabbed at the raging Buffy as she held Giles off his feet now, visibly choking... "Murderer...Watcher..." she grimly muttered through clenched teeth...As Willow grabbed in turn for the glowing crystal on his desk...Kennedy knocking Buffy off-balance, causing her to release her grip on Giles who fell to the floor...

"You...!" Buffy whirled...Eyeing the dark-haired, powerful female who'd robbed her of her revenge...Momentarily...Yes, it could only be...

"Drusilla..." she trembled with rage...Moving on a Kennedy desperately taking a defensive stand as Willow smashed the white-hot crystal to the floor...Yeow!...she grabbed at her burned hand...Briefly looking down at the fragments...Geesh, what was he using?...Then quickly up at Buffy...

Buffy halted, staring...Blinking at Kennedy in her defensive crouch...Then at Willow, now kneeling by the fallen Giles...

"Willow?..." she looked at Giles now... "Giles?...What happened?..." Hmmn, she's lost the Brit accent I see...Willow thought, staring up at her, as the wiccan tended a very lucky Giles...

"I think Giles' crystal uncovered a few buried memories too many..." Willow noted...As Buffy came over...Giles...She knelt down...As he groggily rose to a sitting position... "Nothing broken, I think..." Willow assured her...

Kennedy carefully rising from her crouch...

"Not so fast..." Buffy briefly glanced at her... "Always make sure the situation's fully in hand...Don't assume because everyone's acting like alls well that it is..."

"You should listen to this Slayer..." Willow grinned at Kennedy, nodding... "Especially when she's just gone temporarily insane..."

Temporarily, I said...she patted the kneeling Buffy now paused to stare at her...

"Everything ok?..." Gretchen looked at them from the office door...

"Didn't mean to intrude..." she hesitated...

"Fine, fine..." Willow beamed at her, a cheery wave... "Thanks...Just a little office mishap with some slippery tea and a slidey chair...Just let us see to Mr. Giles here and I'll be out with you guys in a mo..."

She glanced at Kennedy, then the office door as Gretchen went back to rejoin Cheryl at the research table...Kennedy rose and shut the door...

"Mind telling us what happened?..." she eyed Buffy then Giles... "I'm not sure...Let me get him some water..." Buffy rose...

"I think..." Giles gasped a little... "Your initial guess was correct, Willow...A few buried memories too many..."

Buffy came back over, handing him some water which he took a bit gingerly, she wincing as she caught his slight hesitation... "Sorry, Giles..."

"Not at all, my dear...Not your fault...I should have taken more precautions beforehand..."

"Well..." Willow smiled... "Who'd of thought our heart-on-her-sleeve Slayer would have such a black box within..."

Hey...Buffy shrugged... "William always said I had hidden depth..." Giles rose to his feet carefully...Still a bit wobbily...Uhhh...Oh...she bit a lip...No, no...he patted her, smiling...

Outside the office, Gretchen eyed Cheryl, a slight beam...Anything?...Cheryl hissed...Gretchen shrugging...Not sure...

But I gave a fine performance as a concerned, friendly, human graduate student...Mistress is gonna be so pleased...she noted quietly...

"Are we sure that's not her in there?...Testin' us...?" Cheryl asked in a whisper...

"She told us her counterpart would be here, Cherl...Now just look over what Ms. Rosenberg gave us and be polite and friendly..."

"Any more so and I'll bust a gut..." slight frown... "Doin' my best...And not bad for a high-school dropout, if I say so myself..."

Back in the office...Buffy had brought over a chair with Slayer speed...And a very sheepish expression...

"It's fine...I'm quite all right...And thanks to our little session we have gained some useful information...At a fairly painless..." Giles felt his throat a sec...Buffy wincing again... "Price..."

"Great..." Willow beamed... "So?..." Watching him as he looked down at the shattered crystal on the floor...Ooops...

"Sorry about that, Giles...You did say to...Well, you did say 'crystal'.."

"It's fine Willow...You did well..." he smiled at her...

"As to what we have learned...Well...?" he eyed Buffy...

Ummn...She sheepishly stared at him...

"Don't really remember much, Giles...Just a few really mixed-up fragments...And then finding my hand wrapped round your throat..."

"Yes...That's understandable, Buffy...But we can recover those fragments by hypnosis...Under somewhat more controllable conditions...If you're willing..."

"And we have learned that whoever you once were...You were a Slayer then too...Who must have encountered Drusilla...And had severe differences with the Council in your time...And, most importantly..." he paused...

"You were British..." he smiled at her...

Neat...she grinned back..."My intended's gonna be so pleased..."

"Not that he doesn't like American girls..." she hastily noted to Willow and Kennedy...

LA...Midmorning...One of the Hyatt hotel rooms of the Mears party...

"So..." Nemesis smiled at Soames gently... "We're on our way...Just gotta get the crates over to the new place...And Warren can set to workin'...And before you know it..." she beamed... "With a lil' luck...You'll have me back...As I was..."

"Buffy..." he eyed her... "Even if Mears isn't lying to us...It may not work...And even if it does...There's a Buffy here..."

"I'll deal with that..." she frowned... "...in a non-violenty kinda way...I promise...Long as you stick..." she eyed him carefully...a pleading...

"Well..." he nodded... "If you can handle it...No matter how ole Mearsy does...I will stick by you, Buffy...Believe that...Believe me..."

For me, you are Buffy...he eyed her...Without question...

"Buffy..." she shook her head... "Doesn't kill innocent people, even her own brain-dead enslaved clones...Not to mention all the people she loved..." she stared at him carefully...

"Circumstances, pet...And you might be surprised what you're capable of when provoked enough..."

"Thanks..." she kissed him... "But we both know...A Buffy who could do what I did...Is not your Buffy...Or your Cicely...Not completely anyway..."

And one way...Or another...she told him...Smiling gently as she pulled him close...

"I am gonna be that Buffy...That Cicely...The woman you loved...Again..."

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	3. Chapter 3

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXXI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXXI...

Sunnydale, mid-morning...

Alternate Willow having rested a bit, had decided to make a start on her own, beginning with a call on an old friend...One she'd been pleased to see from the Sunnydale directory service was living at the same address in this universe...

"Amy?...Hi..." she gave a bright Willowy beam as Amy stared at the visitor on her doorstep...

Hmmn...Looks like the Willow of this Earth didn't have much better relations with poor ole Am than I did mine...she thought, looking at Amy's coldly frowning face...

"What do you want?..." Amy asked curtly... "The answer being no if it's anything I could do for you..."

"Geesh...Amy?..." she shook her head... "I don't know what my counterpart did to you...But that's surely no reason we can't be friends..." her eyes darkening suddenly, she waved a hand, as Amy backed away in confusion...Counterpart?...And froze...Head jerking up, eyes rolling back...

"That's better..." Alternate Willow nodded... "And yes, I'd be very happy to come in and make myself at home...Thanks..." she gently pushed Amy back into the hallway, closing the door...

"No better than our Amy back home at self-defense spells, I see..." she smiled at her fellow wiccan...Who remained in her stiff, head-up pose...

"Now, Amy...As to the reason I decided to pay you this little courtesy call...My first, by the way, on anyone on this Earth who's a counterpart of those I knew back home, you're pleased to know, I'm sure..." she grinned...

"I need to borrow a little something from you...And maybe any other wiccans you might know of, living in the area?...I've gotten a lil' run-down, jumping from Earth to alternate Earth...Especially that last Earth..." she winced slightly...Demon-controlled...Had quite a time getting away...she noted...

"And I'm not quite ready to hunt up this world's Dawnie the Energy Ball, just yet...Not till I get the lay of the land..." she put her hands to either side of Amy's body and made contact...Amy writhing as most of her store of mystic power flowed into Alternate Willow...

She collapsed as Alternate Willow released her...Watching her tremble and moan on the floor...

"Hmmn...Not all that much...But it should do for taking on any friends of yours..." she smiled at her...

Now, Amy...she waved a hand...Amy rising to a standing position...

"You've helped me...It's time for me to help you...And then you can help me some more..."

First...You've gotta overcome these negative emotions...Especially towards me...she stared at her...Eyes deep black...

"In fact, I think you'd be best off with no emotions at all...And maybe not all that much willpower...You agree, don't you?...Amy?..." Amy stared back, blankly now, nodding slightly...

"Yes, Willow..."

"See...All that negativity lifted off your shoulders...And now we can be friends...You wanta be my friend and help me, right?..." Amy nodded...Yes, Willow...

"Great..."she beamed...Eyeing her new 'friend' carefully...Not bad... "Say maybe we could even get to know each other a little better...Don't you think, girlfriend?..." she patted her fondly...Amy blankly nodded...Yeah...Alternate Willow smiled...And gave a cheek kiss... "I always thought you had potential, Am...At least my world's Amy...If you could let go and give the distaff side a whirl..."

Yeah...she breathed, her cheek against Amy's neck now... "Course magical lobotomy always helps move things along...You should have seen how well it worked for the Buffy of the first Earth I visited...Of course there, they had lotsa Slayers and didn't really need her anyway...Seems my counterpart there activated all the potentials there to fight the First Evil...Neat, huh?..." Amy nodded...Neat, Willow...

"But it was a doomed romance, I'm afraid...She died keeping their Willow off my back when I decided it was time to move on..."

She patted her...And stepped back... "Weell...Romance later...If time allows..." she smiled...

"Now, as to our mission...We're gonna be seeking Buffy...But more than one Buffy...Mine...Or rather the superbitch cloned from mine...And yours...Well, your Earth's Buffy..As well...And I think, Am that you would find the mission somewhat to your liking even if I wasn't making decisions for you now..."

"Cause best of all...By helping me...You get to get a little of your own back from the Willow here who hurt you...and the counterparts of my friends as well...Judging by your attitude before you did go through that rat thing and were abandoned by them after this world's Willow finally brought you back, right?..."

"Yes...They let me..." Amy began, blankly... Alternate Willow cutting her off with a wave...Don't wanta hear the whole whining tale, kiddo...Amy was quiet, waiting...

"Ok...So?...Can you find it in your heart to help me out in my lil' vengeance project?...And do you know some wiccans round these parts?..." Amy nodded...Yes...Willow...Willow stared at her...And?...

"I...Know...Some other wiccans..."

Great...she nodded...Offering an arm which Amy wanly took...

"Lets head out then, girlfriend..."

"I want to trust you, William..." Dawn sighed, eyeing him from her chair as they sat in the Summers' kitchen...

"But ya gotta understand...She's my sis...Plus...I'm partly...Maybe largely...Responsible for all of this...If I hadn't come..."

"I would have found my way to her somehow, Nibs...I had the chip before you came, remember?...It wasn't your coming that changed things between us...And maybe..." he paused...

Maybe things have never changed between us...

"I was the one who made her think there was something worth trusting in you..." Dawn looked away... "When she saw how you treated me...After...And even before she died...When Glory tortured you over me..."

"She made her decision slowly, painfully, and only after giving me a full and long time to prove myself, post-soul Nibs...With a little impulse Buffy-hearted compassion thrown in along the way...She didn't simply see Spike behaving himself with her lil' sis and decide to throw caution to the winds...Much as Spike might have wished for just that..."

But...he grinned at her...You're trusting me, caring about me...Even when I wasn't worth it...That did mean a lot to me...William as well as Spike...

"It's amazing how much something like that...Compassion, caring...From someone like you...And your sainted mother...Can influence even the worse in us...Spike was different after meeting you and Joyce, Nibs...And William, lost as I was within, was grateful..."

Dawn eyed him a long, silent time...

"You were there...All this time?...Somewhere within Spike?..."

"Can't say as to specifics, girl...But yes, somehow, in some way I was trapped in there...Sensed something of what Spike was doing..."

Prayed for someone, anyone...he paused, staring at the kitchen wall...

"Is that why...? You and the Slayers?..." she eyed him...He shrugged...Maybe...Maybe I was influencing Spike somehow, pushing him to challenge them...

"If so, not a very impressive effort by William..." he sighed...

"Should we...Could we...Me...Could I have helped you?...Before?..."

"No..." he shook his head firmly... "Except to stake me...There was nothing even the most compassionate human could do..."

Unless of course you'd had access to soul curses, resurrection spells, classified technology, or the address of a certain African demon god...he smiled...

"I could have helped you...Made Willow help you..." she shook her head... "I never tried...I'm sorry, Will..."

"Too dangerous, Nibs...Never underestimate Spike...Or, to be fair to the ole bugger, Angelus...Or Dru...Or any vamp demon, including God forbid, your own, for that matter...Thank God our Red was never that foolish, despite her kindly nature when not insane with grief..."

"And it meant something to me...William...That I found my way back, even if loving our Buf was the trigger...I have something to be proud of, Nibs...For the first time in a very long time..."

"William Soames Walthrop must have been a very fine man..." Dawn smiled a bit at him...

"Eh, bit of a nineteenth century nerd...Well-intentioned...Not too successful at love or at fighting his Dark Side..."

"Seems pretty successful from where I sit..." she grinned a bit...

"Well, he did always put love first...I can say that much for him..."

As I will always do with my Buffy...he eyed her carefully...She nodded slightly...

"She was upset this morning...When she came up..." a slight frown for Mom's sake...He gave an apologetic nod...We'll try to tone it down till the wedding...

"She said something odd about...Killing you?...Knowing she killed you?...I guess it was a bad dream, but that's why she went off to see Giles..."

"Killed me?..." he stared at her...

"Wasn't she having bad dreams last night?..."

"Well...She woke up once or twice...Crying out...Nearly crushed me in hugs..." he pondered... "I guess I thought she was still feeling things out...About us and all..."

Killed me...he looked at the wall...

"There must be something to it...Else she wouldn't have made a big deal of it...Unless, she's concerned about this new guy wearing her face in LA?...Wanted a chance to slip off to find out about it with Giles?..."

"No, Nibs...We fight as a team...She wouldn't cut me out of the action, even if she thought I might be vulnerable...She'd never..." he paused...

Leave me...he blinked...Unless...

Unless she thought...Will?...Dawn stared...

"You're beneath me..." he murmured... "That's what she said...Just as..."

"Will...?" Sorry...he waved a hand...

"Buffy said you were 'beneath her'?..."

"It was...A while back...When I told her how I...Spike...Killed those two Slayers...She wanted to know...And then I ended up telling her a little of how I died...It was odd..."

She seemed to know the story even as I told it...And then she used the same words...Cicely's words...

"Cicely...?" Dawn stared...

"Ole relationship...The causative factor you might say, in my running into Drusilla in 1880..." he paced a bit and stopped...Hesitating a moment...

"Actually, Niblett...There's a secret there...One I need a little help with...I'm not quite sure how to handle it...Explain it to our girl..."

Will?...

"For starters..." he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a carefully wrapped packet...Opening it...

In which Dawn to her astonishment saw a gold wedding band...An old one...

"Is this...Yours?..."

Mine...he nodded...And I'm afraid...I didn't just pick it up and wanted your opinion...

"Eternity is Ours...Cicely..." she read the inscription...And looked at him, her eyes unmistakably, though slightly, narrowing...

Lovely...Ten minutes ago she was ready to kill me for planning to marry her sis...Now she wants my head for having been married to someone else...he sighed...

LA...midmorning...

"I said..." the cop, a large, rather hulking fellow, grabbed that distinguished savior of Humanity (at least that of his alternate Earth), Dr. Warren Mears and shoved him hard against the interior side wall of his newly acquired warehouse, lab-in-progress... "Do...You...Have...A...Permit, jackass?"

Warren's earlier somewhat condescendingly smirking reply having clearly not been the response the peace officer desired...

"Sure..." Mears choked as the stronger-than-even-his-size-might-have-led-one-to-believe cop held him up the wall by one arm... "Got...One...Some...Where...Just...Sec..." In my wallet, he did not say...Alternate Dr. Mears, corporate head, having been quite well versed in the ways of his alternate world...And could therefore appreciate that some things never change across the Multiverse...

The cop released him, something underneath the groaning having led him to feel the good Dr. had gotten the point...Mears went for his wallet...Fortunately he'd done a cash advance that morning...

"This look right?..." he gave a smile, handing over $400...

"That's a temporary permit..." the cop smiled back, pocketing the cash... "You'll need a permanent one..."

"Any idea what that might run me?..."

"Oh...two, three thousand I'd say...Depends on the value of your business...And I should warn you, it's subject to six months' renewal..."

And why am I not surprised, Mears thought... "Have a great day, pal..." the cop tipped his hat, heading for the door...

Hmmn...Too strong...Mears shook his head...Turning back to his crates...And then back suddenly as he heard a loud yelp from the cop just outside...

And he came flying back through the closed door he'd just left...

"Hiya, 'pops'..." Nemesis grinned as she zipped over to the shaken fellow now down by the opposite wall... "Heard you got shook down..."

And by a demon in cop's clothing no less...she shook her head at the fallen 'policeman'...Tell me, 'officer'...How many years' ya get for impersonating an officer of the law...?

"You were out there all the time?...He might've killed me..."

"Don't be silly...He wanted cash, not blood or you'da been dead fifteen minutes ago...And I had our attentive landlord to get rid of..." Warren eyed her...She frowned, waving a hand... "The polite way, don't worry...He's fine..."

"Now as to this clown.." she went over to the demon... "Pal...As a new citizen of this version of the USA and Los Angeles, I resent seeing the honor of our public servants bein' bes...beo...(besmirched?...Warren offered...Yeah, thanks...she gave a dark look)...like this...Not to mention your threatening someone I temporarily need..." she grinned at Warren... "You got anything...Useful...To say before I pre..Prona...(pronounce?...the demon suggested helpfully...Yeah...she glared at him, then Mears) and carry out sentence?..."

"You're real strong...?" Yeah...And thanks but that's not quite what I meant...she pulled him up, squirming, with one hand...

"I'm only a scout...I dunno nothin'..." demon cop groaned...

"Now that's a lil' better..." she lowered him... "So there are more of you...?"

"Oh, yeah..." he beamed...Sensing light at the end of the tunnel... "There's a lot of us...We pass as police, firemen...Round here nobody's surprised we got our hands out..."And we do protect the neighborhood...he noted with unmistakable pride... "All the ones who pay up, at least...We keep out all kinds of no good scumbags..."

"Noble...And a nice little racket...Ok, then...Mearsy?" she eyed him, as she held the demon in her one-handed grip... "I'm gonna go meet our neighborhood demon watch...Stick close, ok?...Especially this being such a high crime area and all...Wouldn't want you getting hurt or eaten..."

Stay, Warren...Or else...she gave him a hard, dark look...Sure, he nodded...Trying for sincerity...Failing, even though he had every intention of keeping close for this day... "I've got plenty to do...I'm gonna need your help soon though..."

"I'll be back...Soon..." she nodded...

Hmmn...Soames looked at the computer screen...Fellow does seem to know what he's talking about...

Though of course...He...or she...could be an obese, obnoxious, thirteen year old know-it-all jerking my chain...

But even so, it could be the real dope...He scrolled back up to the top of the response and reread...

"My guess is that despite crossing the dimensional barrier you maintain a link to your home world demon...That demon supplies the bulk of your vampiral nature...As the link is strained and gradually ruptured, your vampiral nature reverts back..."

To human...Soames finished, blinking at the screen...

I'm becoming human again...My God, if my alternate's alive here, I've gotta suggest a quick series of interdimensional transits...

"However..."

There's always a however...he sighed...

"The physical strains on your body may be enormous...I would recommend you have yourself carefully monitored for the next few weeks until the reversion is complete...The process may be potentially life-threatening..."

And my own key question in response...

"I'm 21 human + 123 vamp years old...Is that going to be a factor here?..."

As in...Will I end up like Barnabas Collins the first time Dr. Hoffman tried to help him?...he grinned a bit at the screen...

"I would think it would add to the physical strain...But you won't end up like Mel Gibson in "Forever Young"...Or Barnabas Collins when Julia Hoffman failed to cure him the first time..."

"PS. Love to talk to you about that interdimensional crossing sometime...I've played with that sort of thing myself...

Yours, Fred..."

Hmmn...Soames stared at the screen...Then his hand...His nearly human hand...

Poor Spike...he thought...What a terrible thing to lose his only contact to the only happiness he's ever known...After all, he can't help what he is...And he was born of my darkest nature...

May God grant him some comfort in his alternate Hell...My Buf's demon perhaps, if she's capable of any feeling for him...

The main door opened quietly...

The 'police substation' with connected 'firehouse' looked real enough, Nemesis noted to her companion...Who'd contentedly lead her to his mates...Only suspicious thing is the idea of the city administration caring enough to put two public services in this neighborhood...

The demon walked with her down the building hallway, doing his best in accordance with her wishes to give the impression that he'd brought in a prisoner...The phony cops doing a bang-up business via bailing of those lawbreakers not deemed necessary for other purposes...

The nature of those 'other purposes' she could easily guess...

One of the "cops" in the hall, a former resident of Sunnydale, looked at her casually...Not bad, Joe...Nice to have her for our new den mother...Then bug-eyed...

"The Slayer!..." he backed away, frantically looking for the nearest exit...

The other "cops" jerked heads and stared, paralyzed...A tiny handful retaining just enough guts to desperately reach for weapons...The clueless humans standing or sitting staring at the slight blonde as well...

Slayer?...

Jesus...One or two thought just as Nemesis tore apart the first two nearest to her...She don't look like the serial killer type...

They revised that thought quickly as five more "desk cops" became vampiral dust clouds...A couple frantically trying to fire off their guns went through the roof, demons she noted as their blood dripped down...Four vamps trying for the rear exit went to a single vicious stake sweep...The rest either trying to hide among the humans or forced by her to mass in the center of the room...

"Knock it off, you clowns!..." she hollered, dragging three "cops" to the front of the "station"...

"I'm willing to cut you guys a break!...But lose the guns, now!..."

A...Break...? several vamps and demons looked at each other, then the dust piles and blood still dripping down...But she wasn't toasting the ones she had in hand...

Those with weapons in hand dropped them...

"That's better..." she nodded... "Now, all of you who are vamps and have brains, over there..." she pointed towards the upper half of the opposite side wall... "Demons, there..." she indicated the lower half of the wall...

Move it!...she shouted...All but a couple, in civilian clothes, desperately trying to mix in among the humans, did...

"Not you..." she waved back a human... "Anyone who isn't Undead...Can go...But past me, one at a time..." she eyed those in civilian clothes...

Several humans now looking at each other...Huh?...

"A what?..." one fellow, seated by a "cop's" desk stared at her...Rising to file out with the others...

"Very funny..." she dusted him as he tried to run past her...

"This is some kind of TV stunt, right?..." one young lady of rather drunken aspect eyed her as she passed...

"Absolutely right..." Nemy nodded... "Now...Keep moving and don't come back...And maybe the studio will call you next week..."

Not you...she waved one small fellow who'd tried to push forward...Hmmn...Kinda short and dark and nerdy...Oh...

Phew, not poor ole Jonathan's alternate...Woulda hated to have had to kill him here too...

"Well?..." she stared at him as he hesitated... "You lookin' for immediate release from the curse of Immortality?..."

Ummn...No, ma'am...he squeaked...Scurrying over to the side with his comrades...

The room emptied of humans...A few of the "cops" sighing as their prey escaped...All this effort...And such a great plan...

About twenty "cops" and "civilians" now remained...

"Well...Nice little operation you folks...Had...here..." Nemesis smiled coolly at them...

Score one for a new breed of vamps with brains...she grinned...

"Pity it's all been for nothing..."

A valiant or insane fellow spoke up ...Hell, we're all ashes anyhow, he thought...And he was the one who'd fit the captain's uniform...The original pride leader, now dusted, being no longer available for heroic defiance...

"Our kind will triumph one day, Slayer...In spite of you all..."

"All?..." she stared at him...Staying a quick thrust she'd begun...

"Are there...Other Slayers?..." she eyed him... "Other Buffy Summers?..."

"Talk quick...I get impatient easily..." she smiled...

He blinked at her... "You know..." he began, dusting a second later...

"Like I said...Impatient..." she waved a stake-bearing hand... "Somebody want to give me a direct answer...?"

"There are lots of other Slayers, now, Slayer...You and your witch activated them..." one female in uniform gave her a hard look... "Or that's what the grapevine says..."

Hmmn...Bet she really was a cop in life...Nemesis looked her over...

Wow...Did you see how fast she was?...She's even better than in the stories...a young fellow in motorcycle cop outfit hissed to his older "partner"...

"Are these "other Slayers"...Me?...I mean do they look like me?..." Nemesis explained to the puzzled female...

"Nah...There are lots of human female Slayers now..." another vamp, male, rather eagerly volunteered... "All different kinds..."

"That's why we had to do things this way..." he explained... "Too many of you guys for the ole fashioned hunt...We gotta be more clever now..."

He gulped as she came over to him... "I mean...We gotta Unlive, Slayer...It's our nature..."

"Yeah?...Well, this is mine..." she dusted him...

"Hey!..." the female cried... "You gonna dust us!...Ok...But you got no right to play these bitch games with us!...You're the Slayer for Christsake..."

"Guess I'm...A Slayer..." Nemy grinned at her... "But who said I was gonna dust all of you?..."

"That is...If you...cleve...clew..." (Clever?...the female asked politely...Yeah, thanks...Nemy sighed)...Vamps have enough brains to cut a deal..."

Hmmn...? the survivors looked at each other...

"I need this neighborhood to stay quiet...As a place for a friend of mine to work in...And for my...Husband...To stay..."

Doesn't she have a house back in Sunnydale?...One puzzled fellow hissed to his female "partner"...

The Slayer's married?...the 'motorcycle cop' looked at his partner... That mean the stories about her and William the Bloody are phony?...Unless...They looked at each other...Whoa...Score one for our team...

"And we could use some quick cash...If any generous members of your little band happened to have a little on hand?..." she eyed them with an innocent air...

Cash?...A bribe?...Hmphf...That's not the Slayer I've heard tell of...one older vamp shakes his head...

"We got cash..." one younger vamp hopefully noted...

Thanks to our diligence in maintaining proper enforcement of the laws...he hastily added...

Ok...Nemesis nodded... "Show me the money..." the vamp scurried to the rear of the "station"office...Under her watchful eye...Great, she nodded as he raised a wad of cash from the now open office safe...

For a start...

"And of course, you good folks are now gonna reform and settle for animal blood...Right?..."

They looked at each other...

"Cause you're workin' for me now..." she smiled...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXXII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, . ...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXXII...

Just outside The Magic Box...Noon...

The two surviving members of the late Trio stood near the door...Looking at each other..

Ummn...

Jonathan eyed Andrew...Who understandably was still a bit...Hesitant...In their encounters...

I mean murdering one's best friend and all...And having to meet revived said ole pal socially...Without the leveling benefit of demonic or vampiral transformation to put things in perspective...

"How's it going, Andy?..." "Ummn...Good..." Andrew nodded...

"How was your visit to the folks last week?..."

"Ummn...Good...Oh, God, Johnny!...Please forgive me!..." Andrew sobbed...Hugging him...Jonathan frowning, but tolerant, easing him back gently...

"Yeah...Hello?...I forgave you before we toasted the First last time, remember?...Else I think the Slayer would not be letting you in as part of her team...Let alone letting you stay at her house..." Pull it together, please Andy...The stern look of a former member of a would-be world-ruling triumvirate said...Heck our partnership may have been first evil and then First-cursed...But no reason we can't maintain a shred or two of dignity...As the reformed surviving members of the now Slayer-assisting Duo...

Not to mention, Watcher-status...

Right...Andy nodded... "Just didn't want you to think I was getting causal about it..."

"Slayer and slayers-in-training well?..." "Very well as of this morning...Your family?..."

"Fine...Say...How'd you find yours since you got back from Europe...?"

"Well, Tucker's still in the madhouse...er hospital...Dad still curses the ground ole Sunnydale was built on...Mom is nearly over the zombie thing, though...Say, Jon?..." Andy gave him a careful look... "...About you and Brenda?...She seems to think its serious...Just remember she's an activated Slayer now...Careful and considerate handling required..."

"I'm seeing how it goes..." Jonathan carefully assuming a man-of-the-world pose...Wait?...

Serious?...

"Yeah?...Well that's probably the best..."

"Does she talk about me?...What does she say?..." he asked hastily...

"Just that she thinks it could be getting serious...Then she giggles a lot..."

"Is that good or bad?..." Jon discarded the causal attitude...

"You're asking me?..." Andy shrugged... "Anyway, Willow said...The other night at dinner...I made pork loin with mustard sauce and honey-glazed potatoes..." he noted... "I think everyone liked it...Even Willow had some, though I'd made something special for her, naturally..."

"Yeah, yeah...What did she say?..."

"She said Brenda had it bad...But couldna picked a nicer guy to have it bad with..."

God, bless Willow Rosenberg...Jonathan fervently prayed...Spare her any afterlife problems what with the Warren killing and the witch thing...He opened the door... "Excuse us..." Cheryl gave a polite smile as she and fellow "grad student" Gretchen squeezed by them... "Oh, sure..." he stepped back, Andrew following suit...

"Hey guys!..." Willow waved the boys in..."We got a situation cryin' out for nerds' research skills...Get over here and give the chief geek a hand!..." she pulled chairs at the research desk...Buffy seated next to Kennedy, looking rather anxious...Hey...she waved...

"Andy?...Where's Dawn?...And Will?..."

"They're coming...William had to prepare a bit...Willow's spell and all..."

Oh...? "Any of the other Slayers still at the house?..." a slightly tense undertone...

"I think Sophia and Marie went out..." he pondered... "Angela might still be...No, she was going to see her folks today..."

And Brenda and Liu are already here...he noted, nodding to the two SITs also seated at the main table...Jonathan!...Brenda waved...Pulling a chair out...

A little too eager...Oops...Sorry, Mr. Giles!...she called to Giles, now emerging from his office as she held up the remains of the broken chair... "Haven't gotten a full handle on the extra strength just yet..." Take this one, Jon!...she carefully moved another for him...

Oh, God...Buffy looked anxiously at Willow...They're not alone together in the house?...Dawn isn't anywhere near a stake or something sharp and wooden?...It'll be fine, Buf...the wiccan patted her...

I hope...Willow did not say...

"So..." Jonathan did his best to retrieve just a bit of his "Superstar" persona...At least the confidence... "What's the new menace in town?..." Hmmn...

Maybe not so much of the confidence...Don't wanna look like a junior version of old Warren...And Bren likes me quietly confident...Reserved...

"Buffy's British...Knew William before..." Brenda blurted out... "And she's been dead even more than we knew..."

Really?...he nodded carefully...Holding down the blinking...A calmly confident assessment of the situation clearly required...

"Well...We gotta check this all out..." Willow noted cautiously... "But it's sure looking like that's the case..."

Say... 'Cheerio, mates'...Or something else British...she nudged her friend...Then we can tell if you're really Brit... "Right, Giles?..." "Yes...Absolutely..." the Chairman took a chair... "The perfect litmus test..."

"I always thought Buffy had to be a reincarnate..." Andrew nodded, smiling at her...

U-Cal Sunnydale...Sorority house...

The last of three young women slumped to the floor as Alternate Willow finished draining her small store of mystic energy...Hmmn...Not much to your pals...she noted to a blankly staring Amy...

Still, enough to keep me going for a bit...She eyed one of the three, feebly crawling along the floor...Cute...She smiled at Amy...Who vaguely nodded...In fact, the whole team isn't bad...she eyed the three coven members, the other two barely breathing...Well...

"Eh...Lets go...I wouldn't want to start acting like some kind of megalomanic or something, abusing the helpless..." she grinned...

Nemesis...And her twin here...And their closest ones will do just fine...she noted coldly as they left...

"So the Slayers here were activated as well...?" she eyed Amy who nodded... "Shame I never learned that one...We'd never have needed to turn to that bastard Mears..." Hmmn... "Guess I was wise to proceed slowly...Even Dawn-powered, I'd have trouble with a few dozen Slayers supporting the Buf of this world...Not to mention dear ole Nemy..." Amy nodding...

Though, on the other hand...Given my abilities in the field of magically assisted romance...she gave Amy a hard smile...

This Earth might not be all that bad a place to consider settling down on at that...If Bitchy Nemesis is here and once she's dead in agony with no chance of a return...

"I can't believe it..." Dawn shook her head, staring at the wedding band in her hand, as William carefully read through Willow's protection spell...A call from Buffy without naming specifics, summoning them to the Box...A few things to check over there before leaving tonight...she'd noted...

You?...Married?...

And engaged to my poor sis?...

A darker frown than even when Buffy told her about us...he happily noted...She's starting to come round regards us...

Lord, I should have mentioned Cicely to her weeks ago...Assuming she...or Buf...doesn't kill me over it...

"It was only two days, Nibs...A century ago...Then she left me, high and dry...And Cicely's long dead...Unless..." he paused...

That Halfreck did bear a striking resemblance...he noted...

Halfreck?...Dawn frowned...Hmmn...Then again...Soul-utterly-destroyed Halfreck...Not so bad...From sis' pov that is...

"So you think this 'Cicely' became a vengeance demon after you and she kicked the bucket?..." she asked brightly...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXXIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, . ...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXXIII...

LA...The Hyatt hotel room of the Walthrop division of the Mears party...

"Soames?...You ok?..." Nemesis stared at her trembling beloved, an anxious glance to Warren...Not from illness, though sick enough as a result of his ongoing reversion to Humanity a`la Mears' portal...No...It was the sheer, unselfish, unadulterated joy she'd shown...And shone on him...On learning of his tremendous news on her and Mears' return from their little moving expedition...That had staggered him...And in a way horrified him more than ever...

That she really could be capable of such feeling...Such unselfish love...So like her original as he remembered her...And yet also capable of...

"I'm fine Buffy..." he quickly told her...Sitting down... "Just a bit tired from the physical strain..."

Oh, yeah...she nodded... "It's gotta take a toll...But oh God, Will...er Soames...This is so neat!...So wonderful!..." she beamed...Hugging herself for joy... "Didn't I tell you things would work out here?...Now if our dear supergenius would just get started on me..."

Warren staring at her smiling face...No element of mockery, no trace of calculation, no attempt to needle or wheedle him...Simply a warm and inclusive beam...

I'm part of the family, after all...The bizarre thought occurred to him...

Cheryl and Gretchen, still politely and eagerly beaming at all and sundry they'd encountered in their daylight travels, returned to their old house lair in Crestwood to find a somewhat more energetic Alternate Willow and a blank-eyed Amy awaiting their return...

"Well?..." she eyed her vamp minions...Who bowed and gave their reports...All'd gone fairly well...The spell had worked fine, protecting and concealing them...The folks at the Magic Box had been very nice...the shorter, Gretchen noted, giving the list of personnel whose names they'd overheard...(Hmmn, Andrew again...Who is this 'Andrew' I keep finding hanging with the alternate Earth gangs?...Alternate Willow pondered aloud...Tucker's brother, Cheryl explained...)...The Nemesis was not known to the Buffy of this Earth so far as they could learn, but there were other, many other, Slayers in play...Her own counterpart seemed likewise to be a practicing Wiccan, of great ability, judging by her powerful aura...

"Yeah..." Alternate Willow nodded... "My friend Amy here has brought me up to speed a little regards the new Slayers and my counterpart...You did well ladies to remain concealed..." They beamed...

Hmmn...The girls look much improved...She noted to herself, as her vamp minions pleasantly basked in her approval and awaited further orders...A little spell-blocked sun and mind-control orders to be as sweetly human as possible seem to have done wonders for them...

"Lets take things slow for now and see what opportunity lands on our doorstep, ok?...If Nemesis is here, she won't be able to keep her head down long...She'll try to make contact with friends and family, maybe hand them some cock-and-bull story about how she and..." she paused a moment...Oh, yeah...A bright, but icy smile breaking out...

William...

"Ma'am?..." Gretchen eyed her...Hmmn?...She broke off her pleasant reverie involving Nemesis' mate's hideous death...Complete with abjectly pleading Nemy forced to watch in horrified sorrow...If the bitch could feel 'sorrow' or 'horror'... "Oh, right...I mean about how she and that bastard traitor William got here..."

"That is, if she doesn't decide to take out the Buffy here and try to take her place...I wouldn't put it past the little psycho to try..."

Loving us all as she does...she smiled coldly...

The Magic Box...Early afternoon...

A clearly nervous Buffy grabbed at William as he entered, cautiously wrapped in overcoat with a slightly over-sized hat rammed down over his head, gloves...Dawn at his side...Geesh, sis...She stared at Buffy...

Did ya think I'd offed him or something?...Well, then again, she had to note to herself...I had been considering it this morning...

"Sorry...Honey..." Buffy released her intended from her viselike deathgrip...Will blinking at her...But obviously rather pleased...As much by the "Honey..." as by the intensity of her hug... She pulled back to eye him...And chuckled a bit... "You look ridiculous...Good..." A warm smile to the one who must have forced him to take such precautions... "Thanks, Dawn..." The future sis-in-law...Oh, what the hell...Nodded...A tad formally as befitting the solemn moment in which the new member of the Summers clan received a 'pass'...

Willow perhaps a tad miffed, hissing to Kennedy beside her... "Don't they think the spell works?...He's used it already..."

It's a family thing, Rosie...Kennedy hissed back, fully aware of the solemn importance of the moment as she eyed a rather content...And grateful Buffy smiling thanks at Dawn... "A lil' fuss showin' they care..."

"...'Sides it would be shame if things went..." Willow glared... "I mean if he read the spell wrong or somethin'..." Oh...

"William!..." Andrew came over, Jonathan and Brenda beside him... "There's news!...Buffy's just found out..." A hard, quick glare at Slayer intensity from the said Buffy stopped the outpouring...

Ummn...She'll tell you...he mumbled... "Yeah...Thanks, Andy..." she beamed...As Will and Dawn stared at her...

Not that you couldn't immediately get him back...Somehow...Kennedy continued...Well, Willow shrugged, grinning...Wouldn't be easy...But I'd give it a whirl...

Giles came over from the counter...William...He eyed his new Watcher...Will nodding back...Mr. Chairman...

"I see Dawn has found you an appropriate Watcher outfit..." he smiled at the overcoat and hat...Buffy giving William a sidelong glance...You made the cut...With 'Dad'...her happy look saying...

An eager-to-learn-all Dawn holding place by him...The others clustering round, hopeful that Buf would allow them to stick...Ready to vamoose if she wanted things private...

So...'Dad' and sis have dealt...We be family...he suddenly realized , rather happily...My...He looked at Buffy's nervous, eager face... "Ummn...Really do have something important to tell you, William...Ummn...Darling..." she began...

Ummn... "Can we go in the back a sec?...Less you'd rather take a walk?...Willow?..."...Should be fine, Buf...she nodded...Earnestly repressed, but resigned sighs round the room...

This is big...he noted to himself...My God...he blinked...Looking at her as she took him by the arm and propelled him towards the door...

Found a Humanity spell for me?...Or maybe...Sweet Jesus...

Preggers?...

They stepped outside...Into a lovely cloudless afternoon...

"I love seeing you out here...I'll never be able to thank Wil properly for doing this for us..." she smiled at him...

"But lets stay near open stores and closed alleyways..." she noted...Mmmn...he nodded...She put his arm round her as they strolled down the street...Taking his other hand gently in hers...

"I love you William...I always have...And never stopped..." she began...

Never stopped...she eyed him... "Even when you might have thought you'd lost me forever..."

"That night in London..." she stared at him intensely...

LA...Warren's new lab...

"I don't know about this one, Buffy..." Soames shook his head...Nemesis frowning...C'mon...

"Letting demons masquerade as police and firemen round here...?"

"They won't hurt anyone...Or else..." she eyed him... "And long as they're workin' for us they'll keep other folks out of our hair..." he frowned... "The right way, peaceably...They'll even keep things safe regards underworld newcomers...Protectin' their ter...Tea...(Territory?...Warren offered...Yeah...she sighed)...and all..."

And grab the occasional happy meal while we're not looking...Soames stared back...

"Maybe...But I wouldn't likely catch em all anyway...And it's easier to watch em if they're in one place..."

And we'll be taking a cut of what they squeeze from the folks round here?...he eyed her sternly as he could in his increasingly weakened state...

"Only the usual stuff, 'licenses', 'fees', nothing too hard...I won't let em gouge the average Mom-and-Pop business...Heck, we'll be keepin' the populace crime free much as possible without touching city or state funds, we deserve to pull in something..." she smiled...The smile fading fast as he stared at her...

Sounds like a sensible arrangement to me...Warren thought...

We need money, Soames...she apologetically noted... "You're not well and we can't live on Warren's phony cards too long...And without much in the way of id and so forth...At least till dear ole Dad comes up with something..."

"I'd do anything...Work at Doublemeat all my life for you, gladly, Soames...You know that...But for now..." she paused...

It's just temporary...And I promise I'll keep em in line...

"It'll be a help to Angel here in LA..." she noted...A solemnly sincere look...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXXIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, . ...or direct to story at http".

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXXIV...

LA...Alternate Warren's new lab...

Soames paused from where he was trying to assemble a gene sequencer according to Warren's instructions...Nemesis having come over to him after unloading and placing a number of heavy pieces of lab equipment...To explain that she had a brief errand to run...

"It's time I started getting some hard info on the guys...Keep an eye on Buffy and the gang so we don't have any unpleasant surpre...sur... ("Surprises?"...Yeah, thanks...A sigh)...Or unwanted visits..."

For their safety as well as ours...she noted to his anxious look...

"But how do you intend to 'keep an eye on Buffy and the gang'...?" Soames eyed her...

"It's only a twenty minute train ride to Sunnydale..." she noted... "And I should check on the Hellmouth in any case, if I'm gonna do my part here..." And I want to, she beamed at him... "I just gotta be careful not to let my coun...counta... (Counterpart?...Soames offered...Yeah...she nodded...) or the gang here catch me..."

Besides...she beamed...I think I know a way to work it so I can make a little extra whiles I keep an eye out...

Oh?...Soames stared at her...

Willie's Place...THE Demon hangout in Sunnydale...

"So...You wanna work...Here?..." Willie the Snitch stared at a beaming Buffy Summers...Who nodded...

For me?...he blinked...

As a...Singer?...

"Yeah...I'm a little hard up for cash these days, see..." she explained... "Naturally, bein' the Slayer I hafta to work near where Duty calls...And naturally, evening to midnight hours suit me..."

He looked her over questioningly, trying neither to chuckle at the 'singer'...Or stare too long at the wrong places...She was lookin' especially good these days...Though dressed quite demurely in sweater, blouse, and skirt...Smiling at him as though she'd never beaten him silly once...

In fact, nah...There was nothing in that smile...Get holda yourself, Willie...This is Buffy Summers...Who wants something...

"This is a set up, right?...You and your guys are staking..." he eyed several customers who might fit the bill... "...Out my place?"

Willie...I swear on my Mom's soul...she gave an innocent look...

"Just lemme show you what I can do...If you don't like me, no hard feelings..." she grinned...

"Please, Willie...For ole times' sake...I think you'll be pleasantly surprised..."

Ole times?...he stared...

"And it never hurts to have a Slayer thinking well of you, right?..." she let just a hint of seductive gleam into her stare...

Can't show the goods off like on our Earth...she thought...Whether or not there is a Buffy here, I'm Buffy again and Buffy draws a line...Especially with Willie types...

'Sides Soames'd be hurt...Might think there really was something serious going on with our Willie back on our Earth...

Though our Willie wasn't a bad guy...Almost likeably sweet at times...

The image of Willie smiling at her in the club on her Earth came to her...As did one of his dead body as she and Soames had risen, off to meet Warren's clone...She froze a moment...

"Slayer?...Buffy?...You ok, Slayer?..." Willie's voice penetrated...Hmmn?...she stared... "Yeah...Just thinkin' about my new...Nemesis..." she gave a wan smile...

"So...Do I get my chance to fall flat on my face in front of a bar fulla demons or no?..." she tried to hold back, but couldn't prevent dear ole Warren's 'enhancements' from kicking in...

Ummn...Willie sensed himself a lost half-man...Understandable, awash in Nemesis' pheromones and facing her eager smile as they sat together...

"I guess...Ummn...Couldn't...Hurt..." he choked out...

"Thanks, Willie...I knew you'd give me a chance..." she kissed him gently on the cheek...Staring at his face, inches from hers...

Such a sweet guy really...Then suddenly gasping a bit as the sad, questioning face of Alternate Willie eyed her...From his side of the bed...

Ummn...She pulled back hastily... "Thanks...Really..." she nodded...

Any...Time...Willie coughed a bit...Struggling to recover some balance...Fortunately the kid seemed disturbed 'bout something...That had been getting a mite intense for him...

Not that he'd ever believe...That she, even for a moment...Under any circumstances...

Especially knowing as he did who and how dangerous, even with soul, her current fella was..

Still...With any other girl...He'd of sworn...Amazing as it might be...That she'd been...Maybe even about to...

Ah, c'mon...She was probably contemplatin' how hard she'd have to beat you to get ya to go along this time...Felt bad about it, which was why she'd looked so...Troubled...Just now...

"So should I go in back and change?..." she asked him, standing now... "I have my own costume, if that's ok...Leetle bit of a disguise with the wig and all..." she grinned...

Not that I'm hidin' from anyone...A solemn look... "Just my friends and sis might...Ya know...Take it the wrong way, my workin' here..."

Wanna make it on my own, you understand, right?...Willie?...she beamed innocently at him...

Uh...Sure, sure...he nodded... "The girls in back'll show you where you can change...Uh...Slayer...?" he eyed her...

"I won't kill your demon employees, Willie...Long as they behave...Don't worry..." she smiled at him...And headed back...

Crazy, he thought, watching her...Ridiculous...This is Buffy Summers, fella...

And he'd heard tell of her singing ability...Or lack thereof...From various demon customers who'd heard her during Patrols, while in their cups, feeling reasonably secure from her wrath at his place...

Still, she'd asked...And, to have her round...If she was at all able to carry a tune...Might be...

A death sentence if Spike hasn't signed off on this, he ruefully noted...Gotta get that nailed down first thing...

After seeing if she can sing a note...

My God, I could swear...If she were any other girl...And if I were rich and enormously powerful...And at all good-looking...

Or Spike...

That she'd been...Nah, crazy...Willie, boy...A grip on reality...And start figuring how to make this pay off for you...

"Willie..." a large demon, Crusat by name, had come over to him as the Slayer left...Yellow-skinned, a bit ponderous and tentative in his walking, due to his size...

"That was the Slayer, the Buffy Slayer, right?..."

Ridiculous...Crazy...Get hold of yerself, boy...Willie sighed to himself... She was just real anxious, poor kid...Guess times must be tough for her at that...

"Willie?..." Yeah...Willie nodded...The Buffy Slayer...Yeah...Crusat shook his head... "She was lookin' for a job?...Here?...In our place..." he frowned...

Even demons deserve some place to go...Where they can unwind and where everybody knows their name...Ain't fair, I say...the demon shook his head again...Then froze...Whoa...

I suppose if she hasta buy blood for souled Spike as well take care of her sis and all those new Slayers...Must leave her with some hefty bills...Willie thought, sighing...

But, my God...She was practically ready to...I'd swear...

Nah, crazy...Ridiculous...

Poor kid, she must be utterly broke...That damned Council oughta take better care...I...

Whoa...He looked where Crusat...And most of the bar patrons...Human, demonic, etc...Were staring...

At Buffy Summers in dark wig and rather...Interesting costume...Smiling shyly near the back, then moving up to where her would-be employer and Crusat sat...

"Willie?...I brought a backup tape..." she held it out and he took it...

"Ok if I...?" she eyed the small platform at one end of the bar that served as both stage and fight ring...

Yeah...Sure...he blinked at her...She eagerly moved to the stage, the modest crowd falling silent...Females as well, both human and demonic...Though many of the females wore rather grim expressions as they eyed their entranced mates...

"Sooner Or Later..." Nemesis spoke into the mike...Signaling to Willie at his tape machine...

"Sooner or later you're gonna be mine...

Sooner or later you're gonna be fine...

Baby, you might as well face it...I always get my...Man..."

Early evening...The Spikemobile wending its way through the Sunnydale streets...

"So...?" Buffy eyed William as he drove...

Hmmn?...He eyed her... "You've been very quiet since this afternoon..." she noted...

"Lots to think about, girl..." he focused on the street...

"Will...I know what I told you is hard to accept..." "Not in retrospect...Cicely..." he glanced at her briefly...Then made a sharp turn to the entrance ramp for I-87...

She bit a lip...

"Still ok with stopping along the way?..." he asked politely... "Or do we wait til we reach LA...?"

"Stopping...I'm hungry...And that place is quiet...I wanna talk, Will..."

"I'm not angry...If that's what you worried about..." "Well, yeah...In part..."

I meant well, honey...she began... "It was all screwed somehow...By the Council and Halfreck...And Dru...But I did it for love..."

"I got that..." he nodded... "It's fine...Just give an Unman a chance to digest things, ok?..."

Wedding still on...? she asked solemnly... "Sounds to me like we don't need one..." he smiled at her...

No, I guess not...she grinned back... "But the guys will want one...And we don't have the 1880 license..."

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXXV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a different course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in LA...But then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And this one was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXXV...

Sunnydale...Willie's Place...

Much to his surprise...And by far one of the least conceivable situations he would ever have expected to find himself in...Willie sat in a corner booth of his bar...Er, club he eagerly corrected, Nemesis having sweetly suggested he use a more upscale description for the place...Eyeing a shyly beaming Buffy Summers...She rather happily basking in his and the occasional passing patron's words of praise for her first evening's brief effort...

"So I really was good?..." she asked...For the fifth time... "Terrific..." Willie nodded...And shyly shrugged...

"I never knew you could sing, Ms. Summers...'Specially like that..."

"Well...Slaying kinda forced me to keep my other skills on the back burner..." Ummn...she paused...

"So...This mean I'm...Hired?..." An eager smile...Supported by another massive pheromone onslaught...

Uh...A sudden healthy burst of practical anxiety managed to curb his immediate impulse...There had to be a catch in this...And besides...

The key concern...

"Ummn...Does Spike?...Er, William...Know about this?..."

"William?..." she stared at him...

"Well...Everybody knows you and he..." Willie paused delicately... "I mean since he won his soul back of course..."

I just don't want any trouble if he doesn't know...he sighed... "I mean if you guys need my place for some kinda surveillance...We can work out a deal..."

She pouted at him... "I'm not lying, Willie...I..." her eyes widened as she stared at him...Seeing, for just a moment one again the face of a wanly smiling alternate Willie...Smiling at her with the quietly resigned look of a man who knows the score exactly...It must have been just after the first time they'd...She realized, blinking a moment...

"I need the job..." she finished, a bit lamely...Staring at him a moment...

He loved me, William said...Protected me...And I...Without a thought...

"William won't mind..." she hastily added... "Though, like I said, I'd like to keep this arran...arr...Deal...Between us...For now..."

That was then...The bad time...The bad place...Where I was...Had to be...Nemesis...

I'm Buffy here...Even if only Buffy's twin...I will not be Warren's Nemesis...Not here...

William...she smiled a bit at the thought...So we're together here...

Can't wait to hear the details on that from...My sister...

She watched Willie pondering a second... "I promise not to bring my other job in here...Your...Clients...Will be ok, so long as they aren't hurtin' anybody..."

"Uh-huh...Well...I...Guess we could give it a try...Say Tuesdays and Thursdays at eight to start?...I can manage fifty a night, plus whatever they tip ya..."

Likely to be quite a rake-in...If tonight's any indication...he grinned gently, nodding at the large brandy glass by her arm...Stuffed with bills after only a half-hour's performance...

"Great..." she smiled...Patting his arm... "You won't be sorry..." she paused, rising slightly...A rosy look on her face...

Was she about to...Me?...he stared at her parted lips as she stopped, blinking at him again...And opting for another pat, pulled back to her seat...Ummn...Thanks...she nervously fingered her drink...

Excited...She was just excited and all...he told himself...As she glanced at a wristwatch, he giving a sidelong glance at the bracelet adjacent to the watch...Hmmn...Familiar, those hanging charms...

Guess the Slayer is finally taking a few long-overdue magics precautions...he noted to himself...

"Well...I gotta get going...Patrol and all..." she stood up... "Should I come by a little early Tuesday to go over my numbers?..."

"That'd be fine...Say hi to Sp...William for me..."

Ummn...Sure...she nodded...And paused...Uh...?

"What do... 'They'...Say about us?..." she smiled but a questioning look...

"Even my clientele are suckers for a real love story..." he grinned warmly at her...

She stared a moment, then grinned, and nodding, left...

Just outside Sunnydale...A restaurant on I-87 in the LA direction...

Ok...Buffy thought, eyeing her intended...Wedding's still on...He hasn't cursed me to Hell and stalked out of the place...

William, eyes firmly on the menu...

"William?..." she cautiously tried... "I know what I told you was a shock..."

"Not really...In retrospect as I've said..." he continued to read the menu...

"And...You're not angry?..."

"At you?..." he eyed her a moment, then resumed reading...The lobster special sounds nice...he noted... "No, Buffy..."

"At...Cicely?..." she hesitated... "I am Cicely, too..."

He looked at her and nodded...Smiling now for the first time in a while... "Yeah, I actually see the resemblance now..."

Though you were taller then...Lucky for me now...he grinned a little...She smiling back...But...

"And Cicely?..."

"There have been so many times when I've wanted to kill Cicely in the past century...I need time to isolate my feelings from Spike's natural born killer instincts..." he eyed her...She blinked, then gulped...

"But a part of me has never stopped loving you, Cics..." he added kindly... She nodding carefully...

"If you want to know why...I can only..."

He put up a hand... "I do...Though I can guess and spent the last century dreaming up...A few scenarios...But I think for now, we should let that rest and try to have a nice dinner..."

It is the first time we've ever really been out together...Formally...he smiled...She nodded...Oh!...

"Mind if I hit the ladies' room a min?..." she rose and paused...

"I don't think I'd be likely able to stop you if I did, girl..."

"You'd be surprised what you could get me to do for you now..." she eyed him, grabbing a bag she'd brought in from the car...Just a few essentials for our first dinner together...she smiled...And halted by his chair, embracing and kissing him suddenly...

"I...Cicely loved you, Will...And I know, died for you...Whatever happened that night..." she whispered...And headed off...

The new (if rather run down and sparse) Mears lab, LA...Same time...

A rather weary Soames and Mears continued to work at setting up equipment...The building now conscientiously protected from the outside by several of Nemesis' demon peace force...

"It was foolish of me to let her go out and about alone..." Soames sighed...Fussing a bit with the gene sequencer assembly...

"You couldn't go in your condition...I couldn't go wandering round with her, my counterpart from Sunnydale here being dead...She said she'd be careful...She's not a liar, whatever else she is now..." Warren frowned...He, as well as Soames, rather startled by his outburst...

Soames paused to give him a hard stare... "Can you help her, Warren?...Is there something you can do?..."

"This obsession with... 'helping'... Our... girl...As if enhancement...Perfection...were a blemish..." Mears shook his head at his companion...

But something in his eyes...

Downtown LA...An Internet café...

The fact that original Kat Silber of new Earth was dead...Kat-32 thought...As best she, a reasonably advanced, middle-manager clone, could, as she eyed her computer screen...Was very likely a good thing...Though perhaps the father-creator might be disturbed to hear such news...

Especially to hear his counterpart had murdered her...She having been the love of the father-creator's noble life...

Yet it did mean she could hope to pass, for a brief time, as Katrina Silber, without much fear of exposure, so long as she didn't attempt to make use of any services involving recorded data...

She glanced through the large purse she'd grabbed from a woman earlier this evening...Between credit cards and cash enough to allow her to avoid further assaults for a few days...And she'd been able to conceal the body where it should not be found for some time...

Hopefully the father-creator would not be displeased at news of her more criminal activities...But it had been necessary to allow her to continue in her efforts to serve and protect him...And his service and protection were her reasons for existence...

And he would be pleased, no doubt, that she'd been able to locate him without too much difficulty with the help of his concealed tracker and her own cross-checking for credit activity under his name...He having left instructions to all his 'children' who might be able to follow his path to new Earth that he would, at first opportunity, begin leaving an electronic trail for them to follow as well as the transmitter signal...

She would have to remain in the shadows for now, awaiting his efforts to make contact at some moment when the threat of the Nemesis' learning of her presence would be minimal...But at least she was in position and ready...All it should take was the proper opportunity...Which the father-creator would provide in His time...

"Buffy: Nemeses...er Nemesis..." Part XXXVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .  
...or direct to story at .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon,  
Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire  
Slayer  
series...

Summary: Season Eight tale...Buffy faces her worst enemy, courtesy an  
alternate universe's Warren Mears... (Obviously this one follows a  
different  
course of events in the s7 battles with the First, not to mention in  
LA...But  
then, you're in another corner of the Cicelyverse, after all...And  
this one  
was started well before "Chosen", etc...)

Part XXXVI...

Downtown Sunnydale, evening...

"Ok..." Xander eyed his charges, Slayers-in-Training Lorna, Sophia,  
and Brenda...A totally focused, utterly competent...Oops...Sorry 'bout  
that stake point, Xander...Slayer assistant Jonathan by his side as  
Brenda cast an occasional glance his way...

"This is gonna be a basic level Patrol...No fooling around, no poking  
round on your own...We sweep the area in two groups and if anything  
looks suspicious, outside of a standard vamp attack..." he paused,  
eyeing the three women...

"We pull back and call in..." Sophia noted...That's it...Xander  
nodded...

"No heroics...We've plenty of firepower and Willow is on call at the  
house...There's no need to take chances with Buffy and William away  
and we're not gonna..."

You guys do not wanna make me look bad...he eyed them... "And hideous  
wounds and a dead Slayer or two would make me look bad..."

"Brenda?..." he stared at her as she suddenly realized...And hurriedly  
refocused her attention from a Jonathan continuing to do his best to  
look all Slayer assistant business...

"You got that?..." Ummn...Yeah...She nodded sheepishly... "No  
heroics..."

"Good...I was afraid you'd found something more interesting to think  
about than saving your life and countless others'...Not that our Jon  
here isn't endlessly diverting..."

His 'soldier boy' stare cut off the brief burst of giggling... "Of  
course if we do have an emergency sit, people in danger, all that goes  
by the board and we do whatever it takes...Including our lives on the  
line...Right?..."

Yes, Xander...The three chorused...Brenda giving her heroic Jon,  
quietly acknowledging his readiness to give all despite his lack of  
superstrength, a quick sidelong glance...

"Brenda, you and Sophie take the straight path to Greenwood  
Cemetery...Lorna, you're with me and Jon, we'll go by Hopewell..."

Oh...Brenda's face betrayed a slight fall...As did, only  
instantaneously, Jonathan's...But, with a final, hasty glance to each  
other...Both accepted the burdens of Duty and headed off in their  
assigned directions...

Eyed from a well-hidden alleyway, still protected from detection as  
vamps by alternate Willow's spell, by the carefully watching Cheryl  
and Gretchen...Who reported the departing non-Buffy Slayers' movements  
to their patiently waiting mistress via cell...

"Hmmn...Looks we won't be meeting the Buffy of this Earth...Or her  
William...Just yet..." she noted to her blank-eyed companion as she  
closed her phone...Amy nodding wanly...

Nice to see this Buffy lets her sisters do a little of the heavy  
lifting...a faint grin... "Not to mention Xander...If the 'tall, dark,  
handsome...' guy was their Xander..." a brief pause...

Xander...She brushed the thought...And the image of the horrified  
Xander from the first Earth she'd visited, when he'd found her  
draining his world's Dawn with his Buffy, enslaved and devotedly  
watching, aside...She was well past worrying what this or any other  
Xander might think of her behavior...Her Xander, like her Tara, was  
dead and buried in the rubble of Nemesis' vicious wake...

As for this one, if he was innocent surely God would protect him,  
keeping him out of her way..He having done such a bang-up job of  
protecting the innocent of her Earth...

Hmmn...

Then again...Dozens of activated Slayers on hand...Hmmn...The direct  
approach...And brutal confrontation...Hadn't worked out so well on the  
other Earths...Perhaps, if Nemesis hadn't reared her beautiful,  
murderous head as yet...At least until she knew for sure that the  
bitch was, in fact, here...A little subtlety might be called  
for...With a little care she might even win the guys over to her cause  
freely... At least until she had to resort to draining this Dawn or  
harsher means  
again...

And would be nice, for a moment or two, to be lovable Willow again,  
even if she'd have to share the post with a different Willow...Hell,  
she was, after all, on the good quest for the noble cause of  
destroying a monster...Even if the means were getting to be a bit much  
as far as the ends went...

Well, best to see how the scene played out...

"Lets go, girlfriend..." she waved Amy along... "Buffy may not be  
available but I can still have a little gossip with Xander and some of  
her Slayer sisters...That should do for now unless we get really lucky  
and meet up with my old friend..."

Tough as that might be given the lady's magics protection, one can  
always hope for a lucky break...

If taking the job at Willie's had been dangerously chancy, this was  
totally idiotic, Nemesis realized...Staring from a reasonably dark and  
concealed spot down the street from...Home...The Summers' home...

To risk everything just for a glimpse... And this wasn't even the  
original home...A copy, if the story posted on the Internet about the  
destruction of ole Sunnydale here was true...

Still it seemed just as she remembered it from the before  
time...Though the front living room window looked like it had been  
altered a little...She pictured the interior...The living room...Mom's  
room...Her own...Wan smile...They'd done a neat job of copying the  
place...

Almost perfect...Just maybe a little bigger and stronger...

Like me, she thought...Almost perfect...

Of course, by one way of thinking, she'd never actually seen, let  
alone been in the place back on her Earth...But the memories were  
hers... The most human and Buffy thing left to her...Almost perfect...

Courtesy one Dr. Warren Mears...She frowned at the thought...And at  
her own folly in coming...

This was insane...And if Buffy or any one who knew her should happen  
to come strolling by...

Well, intros would have to be made sometime...She'd deal...

With restraint, she hastily added the mental note...Maybe a little  
omission of some of the details of her existence...A few minor lies to  
gloss over a few troublesome events...

Well, maybe for now best to keep hidden and get the hell out as  
quickly as possible...And hope...If things went well...Maybe, just  
maybe...She'd one day get to see the inside of that house  
again...Welcomed as a sister...As a true Buffy...Stranded by some  
strange accident following a grim battle in her home dimension...

Not a lie, either, exactly...

Sensing people coming down the other side of the street, she hurried  
on towards the rail station..Fortunately no one she knew, except  
one...Neighbor?...Yeah, Mr. Crofton from down the street, on his way  
home...She halted in a dark spot to let him pass on the opposite side  
without seeing her...Probably not a problem in any case, but...

Well, she thought, happily on boarding the LA train...Soames will be  
pleased...I made the whole trip without a single human kill...

Like a true Buffy...

***  
The I-87 restaurant...

"You like?..." Buffy smiled, whirling round, her dress  
lifting...Woo...Her dinner mate let out a long whistle...

"Indeed, do..." William grinned from his chair...Buffy having returned  
from a somewhat extended ladies' room sojourn decked out in dress and  
hair hastily but beautifully arranged...

"Wish I'd prepared myself...I don't think I rate as fit company..." he  
smiled...

"Yes, you do..." she eyed him firmly, sitting down...And opening the  
bag she'd brought over with her stuff...Pulled out a box...Pushing it  
across the table...

He stared at it...Small, square...She nervously looking at him...

"What's..." "Happy...Birthdays, anniversaries...Lots of things we  
missed..."

"Open it?..." Sure, he nodded...Then paused, grinning...

"You know you might have warned me...I'd've liked to have had  
something for you..."

Which I do...He grinned wider...Pulling a box from his pocket...

"Though you may want to change this...It's a little old...My God..."  
he blinked at the portrait in silver frame...

"Cicely..." he stared at her... "Where the hell...?" he picked up the  
frame...

"The Council had a very complete file on you...And me..." she in turn  
opened her box...Staring at the old gold wedding band within...

He rubbed at his eyes...She lifting the band carefully...Turning it to  
read the inscription...

My ring...She breathed...Looking up at him... "William...I  
remember..." she gasped...

"Mother..." he touched the portrait gently... "I..." he  
gulped...Putting it down gently, turned over, picture down...

He put a hand through his hair...

"Is it ok?..." she looked at him... Grinning a bit wanly... "Willow  
thought it was a little odd but it seemed like a good present from a  
Victorian wifey..."

Buffy...he sighed... "I...Don't know what to say..."

"I know..." she whispered... "I know all about it...Thanks to Giles  
and his little hypno session..."

"You don't...Understand...I..." the tears were running now... "I do,  
darling..." she patted his hand...

"You didn't do it, William...You'd never hurt her...And she knows  
that...Mother understands, I know she does...It's all right..." she  
whispered again...Beaming through tears at the ring...Hmmn...She  
gasped a little...

"You kept it...All these..."

"Even Spike just couldn't throw it away..." he stared at her...

"Thank you..." he touched the frame again...Staring at the image of  
the gently smiling woman...

"Is this...?...Can I...?" she held the ring tightly...

"It's a bit cheap of me...I know..." he grinned... "But it's just the  
band...I will get you a proper engagement ring...And if you don't like  
it..."

"I don't want anything else..." she replied hastily... "Nothing else  
on my finger but this..."

Does this mean...? She looked up at him...Then smiled again... "I  
gotta get you another one?..."

'Fraid so...he nodded...Reaching for the ring which she slowly gave  
him...Extending her right hand which he took...

"I know you were trying to save me that night, love...Cicely..." he  
gave a hard look...

"Just next time, let me in on things, eh...Mrs. Walthrop?..." he  
pushed the ring on her fourth finger...

"Yes, dear..." she nodded...Staring at the ring on her finger...

"Eternity is ours, Cicely...You were right..." he smiled...

"Well..." she beamed... "You did seem like a keeper..."

An hour later...LA...

"This the one?..."

"Yes, ma'am..."

The prisoner, a hard-faced, large man eyed the short, attractive  
blonde...Officer?...Following the large, somewhat hulking cop over to  
where he sat by a desk, handcuffed...Following her a short, pudgy,  
nervous looking fellow...No doubt a newly captured suspect...Unless  
maybe a harried, corrupt public defender...Looks like the last guy  
they assigned me up in San Francisco...

"So...Pal..." the woman grinned coldly at the man...Now, in the  
presence of a short, cute one, recovering some of his attitude...A  
hard, vicious grinning look up and down her length... The big cop  
jerking him up from his chair...She pulled another over and standing,  
put one leg on the seat, smiling at him...

He looked to the pudgy fellow, now visibly sweating... "You a  
lawyer?..."

Ummn...Warren looked at Nemesis...

"You're talking to me, pal..." she addressed the man... "I understand  
you like young girls...Unconscious..."

"You a cop...?...I don't gotta say nothing till I see a lawy..." she  
lifted him out of his chair with one hand...

"Nope, not a cop...Though a kind of law enforcer..."

And here...You got two rights...One...To speak up and tell us if you  
got any friends helpin' ya...

And two...

"To choose who gets to..." she stopped...Still holding him...He  
squirmed in her grip, rather ludicrously, a well-built man a good nine  
inches taller than the young woman holding him in a death grip...She  
stared at his twisted face...Fear to the point of absolute terror as  
his eyes bulged...

A rosy look on her face...

Blinking, she lowered him...And threw him at one of those 'cops' now  
clustered round...Hopefully awaiting their new boss'  
permission...Warren sweating more than ever, though not due mainly  
even to the presence of six large, rather hungry-looking vamps in  
police  
uniforms...

"Get this clown out of here...Joseph..." she turned to the large demon  
in human 'cop' form ...The one who'd first introduced her to the  
'station'... "Take him...Alive...To a real police station,  
without your uniform...Tell them...You're off duty, you're a good  
Samaritan who made a citizen's arrest, anything...And give them the  
video you took and your info on the victim..."

Real...?...the prisoner blinked...

If they let you out...She coldly eyed the rapist, slightly relieved  
now to be passing back from care of the short, lovely, icy blonde to  
the large hulking somehow not quite human... 'cop'...And you ever come  
back here...she paused...Or I catch up with you again...Anywhere...

"Take him..." she waved him off...Warren watching her...She trembling  
slightly as the two left...

You...She hissed... You did this to me...

He began considering his options...Bring up being the only hope for  
her restoration?...The waiting Soames' likely disappointment in  
her?...The mess and trouble of disposing of the corpse (Nah, this crew  
would very easily take care of that, with extreme gastronomic  
pleasure)...

"Warren...Why?...Why did you do this to me?...I saved your miserable  
life, too, you know...Don't you have the slightest bit of..." she  
paused... (Gratitude?...he hastily guessed, saving her the usual  
embarrassing stumble)...

I wanted to kill him...That's ok...she nodded slowly...Buffy would  
want to...

"But I would have enjoyed it..." she sighed...


End file.
